Champions' Tale
by Danowsawa
Summary: Failing to recover her own magical abilities, Zelda is forced to search elsewhere for hope against the coming darkness. Coming to the conclusion that the four mechanical Beasts must be tamed in order to take on the coming Blight, Zelda assembles a team of Champions to rally support among the many kingdoms of Hyrule. but such deep-seated rivalries might not be mended so easily.
1. A Company's Humble Beginnings

"Beyond that, I have another problem-"

Link rose his head to peer out the window of his cramped family home, lined along the rest of the family homes that belonged to those families of the Royal Guard. His eyes shook as he peered out toward the crowed streets of the market down the street, just able to catch body forms and colored clothes from that distance. That movement, however, comforted him. Even if he couldn't catch glimpses of faces, there were bodies there, people, moving to and fro, unhindered by the world, thanks in no small part to Link and the rest of the Guard.

Seeing movement along the circuitous streets of Hyrule Town, seeing people- It meant he had a purpose. A reason for living. For rising out of bed in the morning, running his thumb lovingly along that picture of his far-gone parents, for his hours of training. His parents had always told him that it was enough to serve the greater good- to serve the people that looked to them for protection. Entities that offered such things came too far and few between for Link's parents to shunt their responsibilities.

They made little attempt to hide the fact that Link was brought into the world as a product of two of the finest soldiers within the Guard, rather than a product of two lovers, and while Link loved them dearly, and they to him, their intentions now haunted his thoughts as he sat at his desk, eyeing the picture of himself sat atop his parent's legs as the three posed, emotionlessly, for a photograph, though Link's wondrous turning of his head during the lengthy exposure had left much of his face blurred. His face mattered little, though, when his eyes most often sat upon those faces of his mother and father.

Though his lineage came across as more so a business, two great knights brought together for little more than to bring about more great knights in their stead, Link rarely felt that way. Even now, staring at that picture, he felt nothing less than absolute love for his mother, the one he'd spent most of his time with, his father largely being absent for long periods of time, dealing with the ever-regular uprisings sprouting up in Akkala, the place where he would ultimately die. Even when his father was in the town of Hyrule, while stern, he certainly didn't lead Link on in his love for the child, always happy to recount stories of ancient battles or wars waged between the kingdoms of Hyrule as a whole.

Link's eyes flickered upward at the rhythmic sounds of the clip-clopping hooves just outside, a horse-drawn cart cruising along the empty street. Link had drawn that same sound into his mind where it still festered, his marching cadences often in time with his general's horse's gallop. He would dream of such routine things in his sleep, even; a sign of his devotion to the craft his parents bore him to devote himself to. For a time, his mind was dead-set of nothing to do with himself, but of Hyrule, and her people, and its King, the man to whom his whole mind and body was bound to.

That time had passed, however; such revelations becoming a rather unfortunate blight upon his mind. He'd been taken by the King's princess, Zelda, to wander the whole of Hyrule, seeking something of the girl's power that had yet to awaken, despite her ever-rising age. While Link found nothing on that excursion, except perhaps a new respect for the woman who'd thought so little of the perils in the world, perils Link knew well enough about, Princess Zelda seemed to have discovered _something_, for once they returned to Hyrule Castle, Zelda had immediately begun speaking of forming the Champions Guild, representatives of all the kingdoms of Hyrule that would be the defenders of this…unseen for that was to be a great threat into the future.

Link had been selected to accompany Zelda once again, much to his chagrin. Desperate to return to his daily routines as a Royal Guard, routines that remained the same as both his parents, a routine that brought him so close to those two people, he wasn't pleased to be sent off again to follow the whimsical wanderings of the Princess, kept away from this life he was so comfortable in. He would have happily died protecting the citizenry of Hyrule, though the idea of losing his life on some silly quest- his life, he felt so strongly, was worth so much more than such things.

Still, he thought, his eyes screwing back over toward the journal he'd kept since a child, as all the Guard did to relieve stress, the journey he'd just returned home from- perhaps it wasn't all for naught. Despite the foibles that had accompanied the Champions- the scars, the traumatic betrayals by their own factions, the serendipitous machinations of the Sheikah rousing from the earth with nothing more in the way of intent but to kill the lot of them. Perhaps there was more to the completion of this quest than a simple understanding of the giant Beasts surrounding the Castle. More than the lessons learned about loyalty and trust; more than Link's own admonishment of his own Princess.

His heart tugged within his chest as he stared at the unfinished line in his journal, "Beyond that, I have another problem". It _was _a problem, to be sure. One that forced him to doubt what he'd been brought up to do- what he'd been bred to do. He slid back into the wooden chair, a stern grasp taking his quill into his fingers, returning to the off-white paper below, trailing these words just after the last.

"I do believe I have fallen in love with her."

* * *

"My father hasn't the slightest bit of faith in my plans _or _ideas," Zelda laid out plainly as she strode alongside her bodyguard, "I have no doubt he's allowing this venture merely to keep me out of his hair, or- Maybe it's to get me outside the library. Either way, I could tell with his chiding voice; he doesn't take any of this seriously."

These were the last words Link wished to hear, already believing this journey to be as much of a waste as the Princesses' previous last. Knowing his King, of all people, was content with sending along Link, as well, didn't exactly inspire faith in him regarding how his King must view him. Truly, Link was a mere rover among the ranks to be sent on wild keese-chases, and while he desperately wished to prove himself otherwise, he knew his King's will was to be done, regardless.

At least _this _excursion was to be one along a company of Champions; perhaps Zelda would be content speaking to the others among them rather than relating tales to Link that he had little interest in. Surely, this abstract personnel of heroes would be better in conversation to the princess than the muted man she was now, officially, dragging along with her. Why? Merely due to their previous time together?

Finishing with a sigh, indicative of the tire she felt recalling such things as her father's ill-respect of this mission, Zelda simply pointing a finger out toward the hilly landscape just ahead of the two of them, "There it is, Sanadin Park. Have you been there? Oh, it's a wonderous place!"

Link shook his head, leaving Zelda to continue, "It's beautiful! We used to come by here all the time on the round trip to through Dalite Forest to let the horses get some rest. My manservant would lift me up over his head and it would feel like I was flying!"

A sarcastic quip escaped Link's lips, "I hope you aren't expecting the same from me."

Zelda giggled, "Of course not; we're on official business. Well, unofficially on official business. Official business insofar as I have a group of people willing to believe that it's official."

"You make it sound as though they're aware that this is unofficial and choosing to treat it as official anyway," Link noted dryly.

Zelda reached a head up to stroke her chin, "I mean, I- It was _implied _that the King of Hyrule had placed his official word on this expedition."

With a sardonic glance, Link reminded, "You're father can order me to keep tabs on you and protect you during your travels, regardless of your goals. You can order me to shut up and not let it known that you're essentially lying to get a gang of people to go along with your plans. But I would highly suggest not getting too far in over your head."

"Pfft, whenever have I gotten too far-" Zelda began, pausing as her face lowered under Link's critical glance, "Okay, a few times. But look, I _know _what I've seen, what I've heard from the goddesses. I just need a little more time to find some proof that'll get people to believe me; I think figuring out those Beasts will do just that, and to get to _them_, I need some-"

"Pawns," Link finished beneath a bemused frown from Zelda.

She insisted, "I was thinking 'assistants'; do you realize that our world is on the cusp of evils unseen for millennia? Those Beasts may be the only things we have to fight back; gifts our ancient ancestors offered us! If we don't utilize them, what does that say about all of our progress if we don't build upon those Sheikah who brought us up to begin with?"

Uninspired by such rhetoric, Link simply replied, "I'm merely following you, Princess. What you'd have your guard do is your business."

"Good to hear that," Zelda came back with an authoritative tone, "I'd expect nothing less from a Royal Guard of Hyrule. So long as you keep quiet and allow me time to properly construct my plans, and I know you excel at that first one, we'll be completely fine. In fact, we'll be better than fine when we're actually prepared despite my father, or any of Hyrule's other leaders, regardless of my pleading."

Zelda crosses her arms as the two of them strode up the gradual hillscape, "I even appealed to Patriarch Bludo's immense sense of pride, but he'd have none of it. Hopefully with one so great as Daruk on our side, it will persuade him to aid us, or at the very least, allow us the privilege of touring and understanding the Beast of Death Mountain."

"Assuming your scheme doesn't unravel before-"

"It's not a _scheme_," Zelda insisted, rather unconvincingly, "The ends justify the means, even if it were."

Link muttered in reply, "If you say so."

"I do," Zelda conformed, "And my word as Princess of Hyrule weighs heavily upon-"

She grinned mischeviously as though having stolen the words, "Okay, I can't ever finish that line, 'least not like my father can."

"If you're going to press on with this endeavor, you may need to work on that," Link suggested, "I may be bound to you as a Guard, eternally, but the others won't be. You're just a woman from another kingdom to them, one with little authority, save for the armies your father commands. Daruk is a friend of mine, a sworn brother at that, but Lady Mipha is a mere acquaintance, while Revali carries along few connections to this earth. Urbosa-"

"Lady Urbosa would tear through a mountainside for me," Zelda clarified with a hesitant voice, "I've already mentioned my research to her, and she believes me. She'll keep quiet for as long as I do about it."

Link nodded, "In that case, that leaves three of your Champions unconvinced, including Nivate. Even Urbosa holds little weight when it comes to her lordship."

"Well, that's why we have these Champions, isn't it? Symbols of the expanse of Hyrule, all of its inhabitants, joining together to mount a massive offensive should any lurking horrors rear their ugly face," Zelda subtly critiqued, "Half of the reason for this is to persuade aid from the five kingdoms of Hyrule; Urbosa alone may not inspire help from Lady Nivate, but if all of us, combined in one strong, resilient force-"

"Princess, you seem to think this excursion of yours will be easy. But as a man who has traveled this world, who has seen it beyond the glassy eyes of a young royal, you're not bringing together simple individuals. You're bringing together cultures, histories- quite lengthy ones at that. Zoras regard _everybody_ with suspicion, the Rito and Gorons despise one another, the Gerudo are ambivalent toward men, and you know how each one of those races view Hyrule. What you're trying to do is upend millennia of-"

Zelda turned toward him, interrupting with a righteous voice, "I _am_. I _certainly_ am. And you know why? Because if we don't, there won't be any lines left to draw between _any_ of the peoples of Hyrule."

How naïve this one, Link thought, though he did indeed admire her spirit. It was a noble venture, despite it being shrouded somewhat in a veil of lies, however, his mind couldn't help but think of how tremendous such an undertaking would, indeed, be. Had he not been brought up within the rigorous existence of the Royal Guard, Link caught a fettered thought in his mind- would he have been as idealistic as his Princess? He hadn't a choice, of course; where Zelda told him to go, he went, but might he have endeavored on his own volition had things been different?

Zelda pulled her pack around her body, diving her hands into the thick satchel as she teetered in step, her eyes wandering off the road in front of her, "As far as today's venture goes, I did manage to bring gifts to offer to each of our Champions. I instructed our leading excavator to bring- well, for Daruk, it might be like a piece of candy, but it was all I could carry. This vein of opal might taste good, I don't know; I figured the thought counted. "

Continuing, Link grasped her arm to pull her back onto the road, though Zelda was too deep in her pack to notice at all, "A tapestry for Lady Urbosa; I know she loves keeping her little hovel warm, crazy as that is. Lady Mipha, uh- This sharpening stone and a book of Hyrulian children's fairy-tales, I know she enjoys those."

Her lips curled uncertainly as she paused her rummaging, "I didn't know what Revali liked, so-"

"Some clippers might have been nice," Link muttered under his breath, earning him a scowl from his Princess.

"_Actually_, I got him a few hollow-tipped arrows. I figured they might be more precise," Zelda explained, "And I don't care much for your own disregard for another among this troupe. You may not be a Champion yourself, Link, but I do expect you to compose yourself as one."

Link gave her a suspicious stare, muted by her further words, "That's an order. and my word as Princess of Hyrule weighs heavily upon the shoulders of each and every one of my soldiers."

His face dropping, those words having been conditioned within him to carry so much weight indeed, Link frowned before releasing an obedient, "Yes, my Princess."

Zelda nodded with a smirk, whipping her pack over her shoulder, "You _did_ say I needed to work on that."

"I didn't mean so soon," Link admitted, turning a peevish, side-long glance toward her accompanying a grin, "What's that old Hylian proverb? Catch an idea without thought and claim yourself a fool?"

"Yeah, you _wish_ that was a proverb," Zelda replied with a scoff that lead seamlessly into a laugh, "I wasn't _that_ sheltered growing up, you know."

Link nodded, "Strolls along the perimeter, guided tours of the town. If 'sheltered' is meaning 'inhibited', I might be more sheltered than you ever were. The life in the barracks leaves little time to appreciate what exactly it is you're preparing to fight, and die, for."

He shrugged, "We're trained to fight regardless, or, if you're like me, you're bred for it. I wasn't born to have options or choices; I was bred to serve. And despite my worry for this quest of yours, I have no intention of deviating from my destiny."

Link's eyes turned to catch Zelda's softened face, a downtrodden expression appearing there, before he concluded, "So long as I'm good enough to be considered a Royal Guard, I will never live to witness the death of you or any of your family. I, myself, will have died before such a thing would ever occur, and even then, as you said, my devotion is such that even my specter would protect you."

Frowning sadly, Zelda wondered aloud, "Don't you ever… I mean, don't-"

"No," Link interrupted, "I don't want anything else."

Zelda lowered her head in thought, missing the smirk stretching across Link's face as he sighed with relief, "But, you know, it makes life that much easier. I wake to serve, and that about cuts it. It's about all I was ever good at, anyway."

"Well," Zelda offered, "You know how to cook."

His eyes wandering, Link grinned, "Okay, maybe I enjoy a few things beyond unflinching dedication to my liege. Journal writing, that's-"

"Oh!" Zelda exclaimed, "What do you write?"

"N-Nothing crazy!" Link quickly interjected, Zelda's enthusiasm causing him worry, "I just write my reports and I empty my thoughts at the end of the day! What did you think I was writing? Vast amounts of poetry or something?"

Zelda's lips twisting in critique as she studied Link's face, forcing him to bite his lip with worry, "What exactly are you…-"

"Nah, you don't seem like the poetry type…" Zelda surmised, slowly, "Though, perhaps you'd be a limerick kind of guy, I don't know."

"What's a-"

"Or sonnets!" Zelda went on with excitement, clearly wavering from the path, both physically and vocally, "You know, a royal knight, catching the eyes of some fair maiden in the streets, bound by two futures that cannot possible include one another, yet you both-"

"Hey! S-Stay on the road!" Link reminded with growing desperation, more due to his Princesses continuing outburst of oddities as the two approached Sanadin Park.

He grabbed her and returned her to the proper path, "You know those stories of leaving the path and skeletons burst from the ground to attack-"

"Yes!" Zelda suddenly exclaimed, "Skultullas! You bargain with your King- One hundred Skultulla shells to buy your way out of servitude so that you may-"

"ATTEN-TION!" roared a deeply boisterous voice from ahead of the two, immediately sending Link's arms flying away from Zelda and gluing themselves to his side, standing straight as Zelda turned her attention forward with surprised eyes.

"Captain Ruzoll!" she exclaimed happily, dashing up the ramp that led up to the Park.

The ornately armored man chuckled happily, his deep voice nearly shaking the earth below as much as his large frame did upon dropping from his horse, "Hey, Princess! How're you doin'?"

Zelda dove into him, hugging him tightly as her head narrowly avoided one of the ill-shaped forms atop his chest piece, "I'm doing excellently! We were actually just about to meet with everybody here, but- Why are you here?"

Ruzoll laughed, "Well you left in such a hurry, you forgot to grab something! Care to figure what it might have been?"

His Princess' face gradually scrunched in deepening thought, running over her supplies in her head for a moment before turning to Link, "Did we-?"

Link remained in his static stance, eyes raised toward his Captain with ever-unwavering reverence until Ruzoll noticed the effect he had upon his knight, clearing his throat before assuring, "Oh, come now, boy, at ease; your Princess was asking a question."

Taking a deep breath, Link returned to Zelda with a quick, "No, I made sure we collected everything. Unless there was something I wasn't privy to."

At that, Zelda's head upturned in horror, "My slate!"

"_Bingo_," Ruzoll laughed heartily, shoving a hand into his pocket, "You wouldn't hush up about it for the previous two weeks, so once your handmaid noticed it having remained, I made it a point to bring Wauf out here, get him a little exercise, see if I could beat you two; though, on foot, I could have probably taken one of the older horses, no problem."

He bent forward to pass off the Sheikah Slate to Zelda, remaining forward to stroke his horse's neck while Zelda giggled happily from Wauf's lazy attempt at sniffing her hair, reaching up to pat his nose, "Hey, Wauf. Thanks so much for taking the time to bring it out here, Captain!"

"No need for thanks, I assure you," Ruzoll nodded, grinning toward Link, "I thought it'd be nice to catch my knight in the field as well. I know the Princess is an adventurous one; she isn't too bad, eh boy?"

Zelda frowned, "Hey, I'm _right_ here!"

Ruzoll released a boisterous laugh, though Link remained stone-faced, raising a fist to cover a cough, subtly hinting toward a far more stoic conversation, though his Captain didn't seem to bother, leaving Link to begrudgingly reply, "It's been fine, Captain. Some unrest to the West, but I've little doubt it's just the Yiga's and the Afeigu vying for territory. If they keep fighting one another, it won't spill out toward the rest of the countryside."

"We'll see that that remains the case," Ruzoll nodded with a far-off stare toward the horizon, "You'll protect this one, correct?"

"From any danger, sir," Link replied mechanically, pounding a fist into his chest, earning him a surprised glance from Zelda.

Ruzoll chuckled mutely, "You're in good hands, Princess. Link is one of our finest. He forged that blade of his on his own, you know."

Link turned his head to hide a blush at openly being commended, though Zelda only smiled with a nod, "Oh, I know he's one of our best. We have many spectacular swordsmen and women, but Link has already proven he can survive _me_, which is a trait I'm not so sure can be quantified so easily."

She bumped an elbow into his arm playfully, though he remained absent, staring off into the distance to avoid any body's gaze. Zelda only gave a quietly quick giggle before returning her attention back to her Captain of the Guard, bowing courteously as he did the same, lowering his head respectfully.

"Well thank you for time and effort, Captain; I do appreciate-"

"Oh nonsense, it was not a thing," Ruzoll waved his hand in front of himself, "Now, I'll allow you two to get back to your rat killing, as it were. King Rhoam said you had some fascinating plants out there to catalogue; that's why I was so quick to get your little picture-block to you."

Zelda grimaced, "_That's_ what my father said..?"

The Captain frowned, "Did I miss something, my lady?"

"No, no," Zelda groaned, figuring it was easiest to simply go along with her father's grandiose disappointment in her current venture that merely proved his lack of respect for such a thing, "Yes, this slate will prove incredibly handy. Thank you."

Ruzoll slammed a fist into his chest, the clashing of clanking metal echoing through the atmosphere, "On my honor, Princess. May the Goddess Hylia look upon you with favor, and you as well, Link."

Link nodded in thanks at being recognized, leaving Ruzoll to striking his steed with his boots, a massive whinny breaking the air as Wauf hurdled his stallion body up into the air, twisting away and prancing off amidst one final wave goodbye from the Captain, forcing Link to take on an unseen salute before sighing in relief, thankful the Captain hadn't done any further blows to his personage.

His body bolted to attention as Zelda spoke up angrily, "That's all my father could do?! Lie?! How ashamed of his daughter _is_ he?!"

"You must admit that this whole charade is rather difficult to buy into," Link offered blandly.

Zelda bit her lip, "Well, duh, but I'd like to think my father wouldn't disown me in shame were I to truly go insane!"

Sighing in exhaustion, Link simply frowned as he sauntered off up onto the circular park of Sanadin, not wanting to have to give further credence to such crazy thoughts welling up with his Princess' mind. At this, Zelda huffed with frustration, though she continued along as well, her shoulders slumped in disappointment at this news of her father's disdain.

* * *

A/N: Okay, so I'm not entirely certain what this story is going to be. It began as another Mipha/Link story, but the story I wanted to tell of them required more backstory to get to it, and then even more backstory, with some tweaking involved, since Nintendo didn't exactly create a story, or lore, nearly as vast as the world its set in, but by that time, it became a whole other story revolving around the Champions as a whole, which I'm not entirely sure I like, since I often have difficultly keeping an ensemble totally equal in terms of content. There will definitely be Mipha/Link content, though I hope it's not overshadowed- perhaps this will be a chance for me to expand upon the Champions, all of whom were quite shallow in terms of character in-game.

So, all in all, I will be remaining as faithful as I can be to the in-game lore, as well as my previous stories, but in all of those cases, I may be switching things up simply for the purposes of allowing this story to actually exist and progress, so hopefully that isn't a massive draw against this story.

From what I've currently conjured up, I've already begun world-building in this chapter, somewhat, but there will come a point, maybe 20-30 chapters in, where I could very well end the story, circling back to the prologue up above, though I could just as easily expand this into a however-long story, given the nature of what I'm probably going to be writing herein. More than likely, I'll ask any readers in a note whether I should stop or continue on xD

Ever since I first played Breath of the Wild, I've always felt it to be so incredibly shallow in terms of story, characters, etc. and all of my fan-fiction set in the game have been to flesh out and/or deepen aspects of a game that I so wish had the same sense of scale in terms of its narrative as its environment. So hopefully, I can do the game itself service while also adding a certain flair to it that might make the game, superficially anyway, seem more deep than it truly is. Simply going in-game to research locales and actual routes therein has added so much meaning to the game itself in my own mind, even making up my own stories for different landmarks or piddling settlements found throughout (like the torn down home near Bloodleaf Lake that I set an entire story around- I always return there just because it now has that much unofficial meaning to me. If my stories can have an iota of the same sort of effect on anybody reading this, I'll be so overjoyed :)

Thanks for reading!


	2. Lady Urbosa's Arrival

Zelda slid her slate back into her pocket as her legs flew back and forth in impatiently rhythmic swings as she sat atop the corner edge of the stone foundation that fell beneath the mighty equine statue that peered over the horizon in its mighty stance, prepared to take fierce strides in its gallop toward adventure. She had earlier been excited to catch the symbolism relating to this adventure, though by now, Zelda's impatience thwarted much of anything in the way of enthusiasm.

For what seemed to be the hundredth time, she herself peered out over the southern skies for any hint of the arrival of her Champions, though now, thirty minutes after the presumed time of their meeting, she was once again met with disappointment, her frustration finally making itself known as she slid off from the stone wall, trouncing down toward the through way with heavy steps.

"Where are they?!" Zelda wondered aloud with impatient zeal.

Link, who'd been sitting cross-legged to the side whittling down the tips of a few of his arrows, turned his head up curiously, not having been too concerned on the time himself. He watched with little interest as Zelda spun back and forth toward the west and south, unable to ascertain what might have prevented their arrival.

"You don't think-"

"They came to their senses?" Link finished glibly, dropping his attention back to his arrow tips to avoid the glare that was sure to be shooting in his direction, "Not everybody is a servant of the kingdom of Hyrule."

Sure enough, Zelda _was _staring at Link, though the look on her face was one of worry. A frowned appeared there as she dropped her shoulders repeatedly, for a brief moment wondering if they had all abandoned her request, though she quickly reinforced herself, batting an open palm with her fist, strengthening her resolve as she spoke up resolutely.

"No, give them more credit than that," Zelda reprimanded, "They would not have agreed to come were they troubled by their problems at home. Each of them understood the greater good involved in this quest."

Link raised an eye row, "_All _of them?"

"W-Well, Lady Mipha. I mean, sort of. Even she knew that accepting this would aid in the relations between her people and our own, I suppose. I guess other than Lady Urbosa…"

Not wanting to formally admit her own misgivings, Zelda remained silent as Link shot her a short glance, returning to his arrows absently as he replied, "I'm sure they'll arrive soon enough."

Such a show of resignation toward his fate in being here was quite rare, Zelda knew, which is why the statement caught her attention. She turned to send an unsure glance his way, watching him warily as his pocketknife slid down the tips of his arrows. Gradually returning her attention back to the Champions, Zelda gave a quiet sigh, slipping her Sheikah Slate from her pocket and roiling her lips to the side in curious determination, sliding down the nearby wall of cement until she was sitting with her knees peaked before her, resting her forearms there as she played with the small device.

"Let's see…" she instructed herself near-silently, "Shouldn't there be a magnification thing on here? Purah mentioned something about- AH!"

Link's eyes turned toward her without his body joining in, noticing Zelda's arms outstretched with wonderment on her face, moving the slate every which way until coming to a stop with it aiming toward her bodyguard, much to Link's annoyance.

"I don't-"

"You should keep up your facial hygiene, Link! Your skin's looking a tad dry," Zelda noted happily, almost unaware of how rude the statement might have been construed, lost as she was with wonderment.

Only slightly irked, Link frowned before shaking his head, tending once more to his arrowhead, "What have I gotten myself into..?"

Zelda pounded up to her feet, now spinning around in place with the slate guiding her movements, its zoomed-out lens offering her a better vantage point than the naked eye provided, "This. is. awesome. Link, you wanna try?"

Feigning a smile, Link replied sardonically, "I'm quite alright, thank you."

"Your loss," Zelda continued excitedly, "Look, Outskirt Stable! You can see the merchants with this thing! Think about the possibilities… I've spent so much time focusing on the ground, flora and fauna- With this, I could even start examining astronomical bodies! Oh my goodness, how exciting!"

Link returned his attention to her, "Don't you think it would be wise to focus on things that actually matter? I mean, you're royalty- there's going to be a day where you're going to have to make real decisions in the real world; why spend time on the stars?"

Pausing to think, Zelda dropped her arms, watching Link with a befuddled look on her face, "I mean, even the stars are a part of our real world, aren't they?"

"That's not- Okay," Link sighed, returning his arrow to its quiver and rising to his feet, slapping the dirt from his breeches, "There are revolts in Akkala. every year now. Why is that? A scandal took place; a Hylian soldier seized a local home while stationed there. He assaulted one of the daughters there and was killed, leading to a rising distrust of Hylian rule. So how do we deal with it? _That's_ a real-world problem."

Zelda crossed her arms, her face softening with inquiry, "How do _you_ think we should deal with it?"

"I-" Link stammered, confused by the question, "What? I'm a soldier; I don't make decisions, I just obey them."

Her lips yanking to the side, tinged with curiosity, Zelda explained, "Why shouldn't you make decisions? I want to better all of Hyrule; I want to better everybody's understanding, so that we can all better make decisions. Part of that is understanding the world we live in, our place in the universe."

Her head lowered only slightly, "My father is a good man, but he is not a perfect man- none of us are. He makes mistakes as any one of us routinely make. But if you bring everybody together, collect knowledge- you lessen the variables. I didn't choose to become a scholar simply to improve my own knowledge, but to improve everybody's- something my father, and many others, have not expressed much interest in."

Link chewed his lip, "I'll admit, it's admirable. I think your goals are lofty, at best; if you're trying to bring all of Hylia's people together in order to repel this calamitous event you believe will occur, or to better govern these lands- I think it's rather-"

"Crazy?" Zelda finished with a wry smile.

His words having been transposed somewhat accurately, Link merely shrugged, "You said it, not I."

Zelda pulled her slate back up into view, continuing her scanning of the horizon for any sight of her Champions, "Good thing I like crazy; when the mood strikes me, anyway."

Once again unsure of the predicament he had gotten himself into, Link groaned only to himself, peering off aimlessly down Safula Hill in the opposite direction, his ears perking immediately as Zelda's voice broke through the air, "THERE! Look! It's Urbosa!"

Fully expecting Urbosa to have played along to begin with, Link wasn't immediately thrown, simply turning to catch Zelda as she burst toward the pathway, grappling her around the shoulders to keep her from scurrying off toward her old friend, heaving as he pulled her back, "Prin-cess! Exactly _how_ can I protect you when you go running off?"

Slightly perturbed, Zelda complained, "What's gonna happen between here and her?"

Link's brow rose, "Ghosts… Skulltullas..! Keese!"

Breaking free as Link burst into laughter, Zelda crossed her arms, muttering sarcastically, "You think you're so protective, huh?"

"Captain Ruzoll _just_ instructed me to stay by the Princess' side, at all times," Link shrugged, "Even in the company of Champions, I'm bound to obey that command."

Zelda's eyes strained curiously, "So, Urbosa can throw boulders like pebbles, and you don't trust her to protect me?"

"I would put every pound of flesh in your way to keep you safe," Link explained, rather easily, considering his words, "The only person I know, and can trust, to do the same is myself. I _know_ I won't fail, and even if I were to, it would only be within a realm where I have no further attachment to this world."

Zelda watched him with an expression resembling sorrow, tinged with pity at the thought of such a subservient existence. Such a world she'd hoped to change; perhaps to a world where such duties were no longer necessary.

"My Princess!" came Urbosa's voice, her powerful frame chugging up the remainder of the hill, a massive ruck sack held atop her shoulder.

Zelda spun around, her worry quickly fading at the sight of Urbosa, smiling brightly as she ran over, Link now allowing her to do so as the Gerudo woman crossed into the concrete park. Zelda jumped right into Urbosa's torso with a gratified shriek, the tanned lady easily holding her in one arm as she sounds around happily.

"Urbosa! It's been too long!" Zelda proclaimed, finding her footing as her surrogate mother of sorts returned her to the ground.

The Gerudo woman grinned, "Is that what a few months has become, now?! My dear, you surely don't mean to insult me; I may very well be a grandmother by that reckoning!"

Zelda only giggled, giving her another hug, "You know I didn't mean it like that."

"I suppose I did," Urbosa confirmed, her lips curled into a heart-felt smile as she returned the embrace.

Zelda's mother had been quite close to Urbosa in life, particularly taken by the powerful Gerudo woman's wily adventures in the vast Gerudo Highlands. As a young Hylian woman, she'd taken an excursion with a small group of explorers to those very same highlands, hoping to discover a handful of landmarks that had been a staple of many tales told about the "Lightning Queen of the Desert". Apparently, she had originally become fascinated by a story about Urbosa battling a massive Molduga from atop two humongous mesas, Spectacle Rock, the Gerudo chieftain leaping back and forth across the chasm to defeat the huge monster.

During the expedition, however, Zelda's mother was caught in a furious sandstorm, followed soon enough by an insane, never-ending bout of thunderstorms, crippling the troupe she had so carefully planned to adventure with. It was partly due to her youthful vigor, and quick thinking, that kept each member alive, and by the time Urbosa had showed up (in a helmet that one party member had fainted at the sight , believing ancient evils were upon them) the Gerudo chieftain immediately shone respectfully of the wily and resourceful woman.

Becoming fast friends, Urbosa never left the correspondence left by Zelda's mother until her death, though the Gerudo had already ingrained her bright personality within the presence of the young Princess, becoming something of a surrogate mother to Zelda, though the Princess might too proud and refer to her more as a sister. Regardless, Urbosa had remained one of Zelda's most fervent supports, funding much of the young woman's mother within her. Link knew, early on, Urbosa would not only immediately answer the Princess's call, but would probably very easily believe her claims of an approaching calamity.

Broken from his thoughts to find Urbosa launching Zelda into the air like a sky bound kitten, Link dashed forward with a pale expression of worry, despite the Princess' laughter, "W-What are you doing?! You could drop her!"

Still throwing Zelda into the air whenever she dropped back into her arms, Urbosa shot Link a wry smirk, "Young man! Link, was it?"

"YeEeEeEsSS," Zelda managed despite her flurry of movement.

Urbosa grinned, "Or maybe I won't drop her. I am happy to see you keeping your promise, though; to protect her."

"I-" Link replied, nervously, "Of course! It's in my mandate to keep my Lady safe, and one wrong-!"

Chuckling, Urbosa acquiesced, allowing Zelda to return to the ground as the Primcess recovered, wiping away her tears of happiness while the Gerudo noted, "You think you must protect her from me; but I assure you, young man, I was protecting this lovely lady before you were even wielding a sword."

She approached Link, giving him a playful push from her fist along his arm, grinning, "Still, keep up the good work."

Link frowned, "I'm getting the unpleasant feeling of being condescended to…"

"Why, I never!" Urbosa replied, more with sarcasm, "I wouldn't dare insult a fellow Champion."

A silence fell upon the three of them, finally forcing Urbosa away from her charismatic demeanor as she turned warily back from one to the other in her party, "…am I missing something here?"

Zelda shook her head, "Link isn't a Champion. or, rather, he didn't agree to be."

Urbosa's brow fell cryptically as she turned to Link with a quizzical look, one that he rather readily picked up on, explaining himself, "The Princess can order me to do a lot, but she can't order me to disobey the King's mandate. Were I to join your company, I would be risking my availability as her bodyguard- something I cannot allow, so long as I'm alive."

The Gerudo's face spun with subtle confusion, simply remaining still as though having forgotten something, as Zelda excitedily popped upward in sudden zeal, throwing an arm into her backpack while speaking breathlessly, "OH! Urbosa, I brought you a gift to commemorate this meeting!"

"A gift?" she questioned, her mind pulled from her confusion, "Dear, you shouldn't have. Your smile, alone, is worth being in your presence."

Zelda shook her head, "No, no; I brought a little something for everybody. Just give me a… A-ha!"

She pulled a rolled-up tapestry, returning her pack over her shoulder quickly to unfurl the ornate blanket, which was rather small compared to the massive, wall-sized tapestries that Urbosa kept at her home, Zelda hiding her disappointment behind an unsure smile, "It, uh- I know it's not the proper size, but, uh, I made it myself, so-"

Urbosa examined the shabbily-constructed crafting project, immediately showing the hearty smile that so often accompanied her, stepping toward Zelda and taking the tapestry from her to examine it further, "_You_ made this?"

With a weak smile, Zelda nodded.

"Then this is a product of the finest craftsman in all the lands of Hyrule," Urbosa assured warmly, earning a heartfelt stare from her surrogate daughter, "I will cherish this for the remainder of my time on this soil."

Zelda laughed softly, "You make it sound like such a bigger deal than it is."

"But it is!" Urbosa claimed in a hurry, "We're only allowed so much time here, allocated only so many actions to take. Instead of spending your moments building a legacy or any myriad number of any other thing, you chose to spend your time for my sake. For that, my dear, I am eternally grateful."

Zelda lowered her head in an attempt to hide her smile, leaving Urbosa to clap her hands as though she were prepared to take charge, turning her attention toward Link, "Alright, Link! What's on the docket? We just waiting on the rest of the Champions?"

"Assuming they show up, basically," Link replied, less than enthused.

Urbosa spun her lips distastefully, "The Kingdom of Hyrule holds immense sway. Don't think the request of one so beloved as your Princess to be disregarded so easily."

"Well," Link began in reply, turning away to glance off into the distance, "I do hope you're correct, for the Princess' sake. I doubt the Gorons will have an issue sending their representative; he's- Well, he and I have a history."

A particular wryness crossing Urbosa's face, she asked in a teasing tone, "Oh, you _must_ tell, now!"

Sighing, Link shook his head, "It's nothing like- Daruk and I are kind of sworn brothers."

"Sworn brothers!" Urbosa exclaimed, rushing up to Link's back and wrapping her arms around him like a leech all but pouncing for further gossip, "That sounds so cute!"

Link shrugged her off, hurriedly backing away with a start, covering his face to hide a blush, "Wh-! I-! This is _serious_ business! I saved the man's life, I'll have you know! Have you even a clue how many bokoblins had to taste the edge of my blade for me to earn such a reverent designation?!"

Between his blushing and his words, Urbosa's hands jumped to her cheeks, a glimmer showing upon her eyes, "Please tell me the tasting didn't stop there!"

"I-" Link suddenly paused in confusion, "What?!"

Clearing her throat and wiping a wrist across her forehead, Urbosa calmed herself in a quick manner, having recognized how quickly she had lost her faculties, "N-Nothing, I assure you. E- uh- Princess, whom else shall be accompanying us?"

"Please, answer," she continued, evading Link's terribly confused state, noting Zelda's slowness to reply.

Lost in thought, Zelda suddenly answered quietly, "Oh, uh, Lady Mipha will be- She'll be the Zora's representative."

"Another Princess!" Urbosa exclaimed excitedly, "I haven't the honor of meeting her! Have we anything to worry about regarding her potential absence?"

Link shrugged, "I doubt it. With the birth of her brother, a male heir, she's been allowed far more freedom than before."

He paused, turning his body away as though bracing himself for another rampant verbal assault from Urbosa, "She and I _are_ acquainted somewhat, however, so-"

"Ah!" Urbosa spoke back up once more, "You _must_ tell!"

Apprehensive to a high degree, Link only replied with a silent glare of uncertainty for a moment before explaining, "My mother would take me there years ago on a joint-assignment to better improve Hylian-Zoran relations. We offered some of our technology to better help them improve their Domain, and they offered some luxuries only available atop Upland Zorana. I was quite young, but I did meet her on occasion."

Nodding, and taking a radically less enthused reaction to this tale, Urbosa happily replied, "Well, boy, even without being a Champion yourself, you certainly are proving quite useful, already, to the company!"

Link shrugged, "If it means keeping my mandate, I haven't an issue calling in any and all favors."

"But you certainly must tell me more about this 'sworn brothers' business, I beg of you," Urbosa concluded, leading to another confused glance from Link as the Gerudo turned back to Zelda, "And what of our Rito Champion?"

Zelda frowned, "Sadly, they're our one wild card, so to speak. I wasn't able to gain an audience with the elder of the Rito, but was told that, if the winds allowed, they might send one of their lesser warriors along, a Rito by the name of Revali, whom Link and I met during our previous journey. It seems their distaste for Hylians supersedes their ability to send a Champion of their own people, though I haven't a doubt Revali is as true of a soul as his shot with the bow."

She continued, "And he and Link don't exactly like each other, so there isn't a 'sworn brother' thing in this case- anything but, really."

"Eh, I wasn't ever exactly into all the feathers," Urbosa shrugged dismissively, earning her yet another confused glance from Link as his brow fell forward in growing distrust, "I do hope he does arrive. Truly. If one of the goals of this journey is to bring all these peoples of Hyrule together, we'll need a Rito present."

"Indeed," Zelda agreed, "In the meantime, the deadline was only for today, so there remains plenty of time for the three's arrival. I'm not too worried, however; they'll all arrive."

Urbosa watched her surrogate daughter for a moment before releasing a warm smile, "So regal, you've become."

Holding her head up high, Zelda cleared her throat, "A Princess never worries!"

"Of course not," Urbosa confirmed softly, turning to Link, "Especially not with such dutiful bodyguards at their side."

At that, Zelda's began to fall, a certain light leaving her face as her thoughts turned wayward, thinking back to a time where her inadequacies seems so very magnified at Link's side- the Royal Guard who so naturally took to his destiny, even if that destiny was nothing more than to be a servant. Perhaps her own destiny was truly meant to be difficult, to be a burden to bear; though, even as her lip trembled, hands rubbing up and down her arms to ward off the growing chills, she couldn't help but think back to that time she so angrily tore herself from Link's protection, her guilt rising like the tide.

That time where she so readily thought that stripping Link's destiny from him was somehow a means to advance her own.

But even now, despite his inability to care any less about this endeavor, Link still proved far more resourceful than she, another chilling fact that sent a quiver down Zelda's spine.

For if not for him, would it not simply be a quest for her and Urbosa alone?


	3. The Champions Completed

"BWAH!" came the exclamatory zeal of Daruk as he strode up to the Park, Mipha following along at his side as the large Goron pumped a fist through the air, "Leg one of this journey completed! Link, my brother! How are you?!"

He rolled up on Link, who offered a hand while smiling, "If it isn't the baddest Goron this side of Eldin Canyon. I'm doing f-!"

Link's speech came to an immediate halt as Daruk shook his hand, pounding a massive palm into Link's back, though he just managed to remain upright amidst the friendly assault, "…fine… Yourself..?"

"A Goron's day among friends is never one of anything less than spectacular!" the large boulder of a man boisterously assured with a laugh, "And look who I ran into on the way! Lady Mipha's company is one of many fanciful tales and pointers- I shan't have been a bore myself!"

Mipha approached from behind the Goron, offering her own hand to Link with a soft smile, "I was traversing the river and coming across Inogo Bridge, I found him standing there waiting for me."

She giggled, hiding her face politely as she did so, "I don't think he wanted to be lonely for the entire trip."

"H-Hey now," Daruk nervously replied, scratching the back of his head, "You'll put a chip in my image… Now, where's your Princess? Surely you didn't come without her!"

Link pointed a thumb over his shoulder, "She and Urbosa are catching up over there, so-"

"Then I must give my thanks for the invitation!" Daruk exclaimed happily, "It is not every day you're invited into a roving fight club, scouring the lands to put on shows for its denizens!"

Link's face fell in confusion, which Daruk seemed to catch rather quickly, the Goron running through his memory for a brief moment, "or is this the thing with learning about the Divine Beasts?"

"That seems more accurate," Link nodded, "…and less deadly."

"Bwah ha ha! Have no fear, my sworn brother; you could hold your own against any Goron!" Daruk assured before stepping off toward the other end of the Park to greet Zelda and Urbosa, leaving Link to peer his way with worry at what activities the man must have been doing in his off-time.

"Ehm, greetings," came a weak voice from behind him, leaving Link to return to Mipha's sight with a acknowledging nod.

He bowed low in respect, "Lady Mipha. Thank you for making this journey on behalf of the Kingdom of Hyrule."

Mipha shook her head, even though Link couldn't see her, still holding his bow, "Oh, I've already had a good time listening to Daruk recount most, if not all of his life, along with a few tales that I'm not sure were dreams of his or simply embellishments."

"He does that," Link replied, nodding while continuing his near-right angle, "If you interject something along the lines of rock sirloin, he'll-"

A chill ran down Link's spine as the cold skin of Mipha's hand gently touched his cheek, its dry smoothness undercut by something of undulating waves from within that gave only a subtle sensation of plumpish give, her voice following along happily, "Please, you mustn't be so reverent. You can stand upright."

Her hand began to tug at Link's cheek, directing him back upright as the Hylian nodded obediently, "Yes, my lady."

"See? Now isn't this much more casual," she nearly giggled, returning her hand to her rucksack, the strap of which she'd had held in front of her, "I've wanted to explore the world for so long; I'd much rather it be with friends than with soldiers."

Link's lips curled uncertainly, though he went on for her benefit, "How are those turbines working? Still chugging along?"

"Yes," Mipha replied with a smile, "Was that the last time I saw you?"

Thinking for a moment, Link nodded, "I believe so- it had to have been; that was the summer before the good King Dorephan decided to cut off our arrangement."

Mipha's expression fell, "Well, uh- Yeah."

Suddenly feeling the air dampen, Link grabbed his arm, looking away with further uncertainty now that Mipha was obviously drawn inward toward her thoughts, leaving him standing their with his awkward stance until she spoke back up.

"Did they ever explain to you why?"

Link shrugged, grinning, "One of the best things about my line of work is that I don't often worry about the 'why's. I leave that to my liege, and-"

He took a glimpse over his shoulder, frowning, "and my Princess… Whatever the reason, King Dorephan was quite good to us as guests; I haven't an ill thing to say about him. He's benevolent and wise; he had his reasons."

Mipha nodded, raising her rucksack back over her shoulder, careful not to slam it into the lengthy trident that sat strapped to her back, "Well, hopefully this excursion will allow you to return."

"Me?" Link wondered curiously.

Her eyes darting to the side, Mipha clarified, "That is, you _and_ Hylians in general. Though, you _did_ make quite an impression while you were there; I'm sure quite a few of my countrymen would recall you."

Link felt another chill as he lowered his head, "I, uh, don't believe I-"

"Mipha!" came the thrilled voice of Zelda, the two Princesses meeting in a fierce embrace as Zelda nearly flew into the Zoran lady, who just barely kept herself aloft, "My goodness, it's been so long! Sidon was just a little teeny-tiny thing back then!"

The Zora Princess gave a smile, "Oh, yes."

Zelda glanced at her with a critiquing glance, "Is he still tripping over that dorsal fin of his?"

"Constantly," Mipha replied with a subtle series of giggles, "He'll grow into it though."

Happily pulling her bag up toward her, Zelda went on, "Oh! I brought you a gift as a thank you for agreeing to join our company, and now that I think about it, it might be just as nice for your brother as well. Let's see- Here!"

She pulled out a thin book, one with a fantastical scene on the front, that of some Hylian children sitting in front of a tree as though listening to it speak, quickly changing hands as Zelda offered it to Mipha with a smile, "I know you like Hylian fairy tales, so I made sure to find another book of them for you to read. Though, you might be able to use it to help Sidon learn Hylian script as well, having thought of that a moment ago."

Mipha nodded with a smile, "I suppose that would work. Thank you very much, my lady."

"Now," Zelda suddenly tensed, "We don't need any of that, now."

A boisterous laugh came from Urbosa as she and Daruk returned from introducing themselves, "Uh oh, watch out! She's in scholar mode!"

Zelda whipped around, "I'm _not_ in some mode… I just think we're all in this same boat now- I don't need any titles or anything, just my name. That's what I'll go by."

A soft smile from Mipha sealed the deal as she nodded, "I just asked the same of your bodyguard, here. Zelda."

The Hylian Princess gave a sigh of relief as she reached out a hand, "Thank you, Mipha."

Mipha giggled, as though suddenly turning mischievous, pointing toward Link as she continued, "And that's Link.

Then pointing to the Goron, "and Daruk."

Then toward Urbosa before her face switched to one of curiosity.

"And Urbosa!" came the pounding of Gerudo breath shaking the air, "Chieftain of the Gerudo! Scourge of the Seven Sands! Queen of the-!"

Zelda's waving hand forced her to resign herself prematurely, "Uh, Lady Urbosa, don't you think-"

"Pfft, heck no! I don't mind people using my title!" Urbosa boasted happily, "Here, I have fifteen more parts to recite for you all; Chieftan of the Gerudo! Scourge-!"

"Daruk!" Zelda exclaimed, hurriedly rushing her hand into her backpack, "I brought you a gift as well!"

Glistening eyes appeared atop Daruk's face as his voice shuddered, "A-A gift? For me? Surely, you shouldn't have! Taking an adventure with my sworn brother is gift enough for me!"

Link turned away from Urbosa's curious glare that had met his eyes.

"I mean, I wasn't entire sure what to get you, but I managed a request with one of our excavators and- Here!" Zelda proclaimed, pulling a rock from her pack about as big as her hand.

Daruk's eyes immediately glazed over in wonderment, "Opal! By the goddess Hylia, have you a clue how many rupees that would fetch among my people?!"

"Really?" Zelda wondered curiously, examining the rock in her hand.

A hand in front of her face to hide her cough, Urbosa asked lowly, "Uh, Zelda, should we think about-"

"But I love it!" Daruk exclaimed happily, "I hope it won't offend if I decline to eat it at this moment. Such a thing is only for the most cherished of cherished occasions."

Zelda shook her head attentively, "That is fine by me. A gift from the Kingdom of Hyrule to you. Do with it as you will."

Pulling the opal toward his pocket, Daruk's eyes wandered for a moment, waiting for the eyes that had once been on him to avert as the others continued their conversations, subtly and quickly reaching down to simply lick the face of the stone, the taste coursing along his tongue as he stood there in the lap of contentedness, a mouthful of eons, of Hyrule's infinite history, dancing in his mind.

* * *

The sun had already begun its descent, now advancing low toward the mountains of the east as daylight crept toward its end. Still waiting for their final Champion, Zelda had made the executive decision to wait atop Sanadin Park for their representative of the Rito, whomever that might be. She and Link had suspected Revali, one of the lowliest among a tribe of people so reverent of bloodlines, though neither she nor Link truly knew. Their summation of Revali being their representative came mostly from the Rito leader's rather low respect for, both, this quest and the Kingdom of Hyrule; surely he'd simply cast off some lowly worm wrangler to merely get the Princess of his back.

Where the Rito saw worthlessness, however, Zelda saw something more; what passed as gossip among the Rito often became stories for the Hylians, and Revali was no exception. The tale of the Rito without a mother, found as nothing but an egg upon the soil, hopelessly ignored; for whom might have left such progeny to be taken by nature if truly worth the blood within them? The next part of the tale, that of Revali's bursting from his egg without the need of a mother, or even a nest, was taken by the Rito as some laughable embellishment. Surely he was simply prolonging the inevitable; Mr. Left-For-Dead would surely die without a teacher to pass on the gift of flight. Surely he wouldn't age with the entire world against him even before birth.

Zelda, however, saw a fierce determination within that lost Rito. If he could not find a home among his people, surely he might find one among this Company of Champions.

Without disclosing as much to Link, she secretly grew to hope that Revali would join them. For all the Rito's accomplishments, however, it didn't come without pride; for somebody having to scrap for everything, and having earned every bit of it, Revali had begun to exude a certain proudness from within him, his pride making him a rather difficult person to get along with, and having rubbed Link the wrong way from the start.

Perhaps that was how he wanted it, Zelda had surmised at the time.

"The winds are growing faint," Mipha muttered, her skin easily the easiest of the group to catch such a phenomenon.

Daruk grumbled, turning over in his sleep, "Mountains're beginning to cool off. I'd say it would be wise to consider shelter, or at the very least a fire."

He peered over his shoulder toward the group, "Not that it matters much to a rock-man…"

Watching him with a friendly smile, Zelda replied with a pep in her voice, "Alright, we'll get a fire going. I want our Rito companion to know how faithful we are, waiting g here for their arrival. No point starting off on the wrong foot."

A mischievous chuckle left Link's lips, though Zelda ignored him, instead turning to catch the wry smile of Urbosa, "Well, well; we have our leader's first order. You did it with such gusto, too!"

Zelda comically puffed her chest out proudly, slamming a fist against her chest as a soldier might in salute, earning a playful applause from Urbosa and Mipha, Daruk sleepily joining in only near the ending. Relieving her lungs, Zelda giggled to herself before turning to Link, instructing him to start a fire with the few pieces of lumber that had already been acquired for this moment.

"Question," Mipha spoke up timidly, raising a hand as Zelda turned toward her curiously, "I'm not _too_ well-versed in Rito affairs and all that goes along with that, but might I ask why exactly there is bad blood between them and Hylians?"

Zelda frowned, pressing her hands into her hips as she peered off, "I wouldn't say _bad blood_, but-"

"I would," Urbosa shrugged, earning a droll glance from from her leader.

Groaning, Zelda pressed on, "_I_ would call it animosity, in any case. Nothing as deep as a blood feud, at least not anymore. But, basically, the Rito used to rule the western skies, for generations- their ancestors roosted there, hunted. For the longest time, Hylians hadn't a clue the Rito even existed- they were always quite suspicious; but when Hylians began pressing outward, settling in those lands to the West, the Rito saw it as a malevolent act, even though those Hylians hadnt even a clue, right?"

"There are so many stories," Zelda continued, a sift timbre hanging in her voice, "Hylians catching sight of shadowy figures in the sky at night, hanging just over the moonlight as if using that glow as their vehicle, catching Hylians in their talons and carrying them off, only to be found days later, nary a bone to be found unpicked."

Urbosa quickly interjected dismissively, "More than likely old-wives tales. No Rito has ever even tasted the flesh of a Hylian."

"Still… Stories _do_ have an effect on people," Zelda went on, muttering quietly, "Whenever the Rito needed help or assistance, so many Hylians turned a blind eye as a result, sometimes causing deaths among the Rito as a result of their inaction. Enough generations of such things, entire cultures can be torn apart by more than geography."

Mipha nodded in acknowledgement, lowering her head reverently while Zelda sighed, clapping her hands, "But enough about that. Part of this whole endeavor is about ridding ourselves of such things. Link, how goes the fire?"

She felt a piercing stare from the soldier crouched on the ground, running a knife along a slab of flint, "Did you think that all it took was dropping everything with just a single swing at it?"

Zelda shrugged, "Isn't that exacyly-"

"Alright, alright," Daruk managed as he pushed himself to his feet, sauntering over toward Link with a groggily determined grin, "For my sworn brother, I will work wonders. Allow me."

With a hand in offering, Link dropped the flint into Daruk's hands, who clasped his hands closed, grinning boyishly while churning his two hands together, increasing in vigor as a ball of heat began to form within his grasp. Not long after, sparks began to pour from between his hands as she rubbed, as though a spoonful of glowing soup were cascading down toward the pile of wood and grass. Such an allotment of sparks quickly caught alight, and a roaring fire wasn't far off as Daruk stopped his hands' movement, dropping the flint to the ground to cool rather let than return it to Link's hands.

"Voila!" he exclaimed.

Zelda and Mipha's eyes bolted open in awe, the former declaring her wonderment, "Wow, Daruk!"

Unperturbed, Daruk triumphantly posed with his hands atop his hips, "Just one of many talents, I assure you!"

"Wow, indeed," Link sighed, eyeing the slab of flint that was now nearly nonexistent.

Daruk frowned, noticing his sworn brother's dismay, simply chuckling nervously as he scratched his chin, "Er, uh- I'll be sure to assist you in acquiring more; I didn't realize it was so exorbitant!"

Graciously enough, Link only smiled, giving the mighty Goron man a vigorous pat at his arm, "You underestimate me, my friend. I brought far more than one single stick of flint along. Thank you for the offer, though, I do believe I'll handle fire duties here on out."

Nervously, once again, Daruk could only laugh at such words from such a tinier being than himself.

Amidst the chatter amongst the women behind the two of them came the sudden gasp of Mipha, who quickly spun toward the north, her voice a mix of excitement and apprehension, "The air! It churns!"

The others followed her attention, with Urbosa being the first to note, "Some Rito do fly with such force that the winds kick up and the atmosphere shivers. Surely this can't be Revali, can it?"

"Tch," Link shook his head dismissively, crouching down and tending to the flames as Daruk joined the women with a boisterous voice.

"How exciting!" he declared, "I cannot wait to meet my brother amongst this Company!"

Muttering under his breath, Link quipped, "You're not missing out on-"

"There!" Mipha shouted excitedly, pointing toward the darkening rays of sunlight, a quickening shadow descending toward them at an arching angle.

A furious breeze picked up, sending the Company's clothes and hair aflutter, even sending Mipha's dorsal fin sailing into the winds with enough force that she needed to grab hold of it due to its rising discomfort. Like a rocket, the winged object burst just overtop the line of intrigued Champions, sending a plume of tornadic winds directly through the Park, immediately snuffing out the flames that Link was tending over, sending the Hylian's head sinking low in defeat while the Rito man swirled upward before hitting the ground, his talons sending a loud CLAP as they broke the atmosphere between themselves and the concrete ground below.

Mipha immediately began to applaud at such a show, with Daruk not a moment late in following her lead, with even Urbosa offering a minute series of claps at the scene. Zelda quickly hurried to the fore, the Rito's feathered arm reaching across his chest before bowing low with his other arm outstretched with regal pomp.

"My lady," the Rito began, his torso falling ever so deeply, "Revali, at your service."

Zelda was quick to reply, "Revali, thank you so very much for accompanying us on this journey. I do appreciate-"

"WOW!" Daruk cried out, rushing up to Revali's side, sending the Rito recoiling in revulsion, "That was astounding! For one so bound to the earth as I, never before have I so longed to feel what the Rito feel!"

Unenthused, Revali slowly pushed Daruk away, gradually returning his attention toward Zelda, "I trust this…assignment won't be completely devoid of class the _entire_ time?"

Daruk seemed unfazed, either due to his waning excitement or simply a misunderstanding, though the rest of the Company, Link included, immediately shot a stare at the Rito, with Zelda apprehensively taking to the fore with something resembling confidence, "I- I don't think Daruk meant any ill will by-"

"No matter," Revali shrugged, stepping away from Daruk as though wholly uninterested in politeness, "I should point out that _my_ company was requested, not volunteered."

He eyed the rest of the group, "As were all of yours, I assure. As such, I do expect- and you all should- a certain level of decorum while in the service of the Princess Zelda. We're not ravenous dogs, prancing about- we're to be the best of the best, correct? I trust that you all have high enough standards that…bursting forth into one's face is still seen as utterly obnoxious and quite rude, and if you all wish to be seen as Champions, I suggest acting as such."

Finally understanding Revali's intentions, Daruk's face fell unenthusiastically, his arms crossing while Mipha looked on in shock, unable to understand how such rudeness could be espoused. Urbosa remained in the background, with only a droll expression to show her emotions, though, as Revali turned to find Link, once again beginning the fire from scratch, Urbosa's eyes tensed.

"I would expect such from _him_, I suppose," Revali noted aloud, shrugging before turning his attention back to Zelda, "He _does_ remain a mere bodyguard, correct?"

Unsure how to answer, Zelda simply nodded, leaving Revali to sigh, returning a glare toward Link, "Pity. For one so assured of themselves, it must be such a pain."

As though it were a table tennis match, the Company's heads jolted from Revali toward Link, catching the Hylian's smirk, though otherwise, he didn't reply at all, simply continuing to run his knife down the slab of flint. Silently growing annoyed, Revali gestured in Link's direction.

"How I poke and prod, yet he remains so quiet and full of himself!" he noted aloud, "How good do you think you are, Hylian? How much better do you believe yourself to be?"

Link rose to his feet earning a collected, worrisome set of grumblings from the Company, with Daruk stepping forward and holding a hand against Link's chest to keep him from anything stupid, though Link allowed his words to act in action's place, "Perhaps it's not a question of _my_ worth, but of your own lack of such a thing."

The Rito's eyes narrowed viciously, as though far more ready to take a peck of skin from Link's face than turn and leave. However, something akin to cooler heads prevailed, with Revali turning toward Zelda with a sneer.

"I have no qualms about taking it upon myself to make a name for myself along this excursion," Revali explained with a tad of disgust in his voice, though he quickly threw a finger in Link's direction, "Though, I would enjoy the common courtesy of knowing that this one won't slit my throat in my sleep."

Zelda groaned, not believing she was hearing such things, "Reval- Everybody, just calm it down, alright? Link isn't gonna slit _your_ throat or anybody else's. Now, we have to get along; did your elder not explain what we were doing? How will it look if even _we_ aren't coalescing?"

Revali eyed her with confusion, "He merely said we would be carving our names into history from the blood of all the Hinox we'd be alleviating this world of."

With a whimpering sigh of defeat, Zelda's shoulders slumped, "Yet another who takes this endeavor about as seriously as an itch…"

Looking on with further confusion was Revali as Urbosa was quick to offer a reassuring pat among the Princess' back, "Now, now. Okay everybody, fall in; obviously we're going to have to get Revali here up to speed, but we can do that while- Well, I believe our leader should announce our next course of action."

Link being noticeably absent from the collective, Zelda took a deep breath to prepare herself, "Alright. As it's getting late, we might as well camp out here for the night. By the light of dawn, we'll be heading up to the peak of Satori Mountain to ask its guardian spirit for its blessing before our trip. After that, we're to head south, to Gerudo Desert. Given Lady Urbosa's status, that should be the easiest, and therefore, our first milestone upon this journey."

Running an uncertain hand along her arm, Mipha's lips pursed in concern, "A-Are you sure we'll…"

She trailed off in worry, afraid of becoming any sort of hindrance, though Link was quick to speak up in answering her plight, "I was asked to prepare for most anything. We've brought jelly which Zoras can use on their skin to remain moistened, though, I'm not entirely certain how it will fare atop Death Mountain. I was also told to expect bridges not to be crossed until arriving at them."

Zelda's fingers fiddled at her chin at his words, quickly reorienting the conversation, "Alright, if everybody would like to pitch in on pitching tents, by the light of the moon, we'll be able to explain ourselves to our final member. Again, Revali, thank you for your time."

Shrugging, his feathers fluttering from the movement, Revali replied, "Whatever this…journey may be, I can't help but feel as though my talents will be better demonstrated out in the wilderness. You have every honor to ask of me what you will in order for me to do so. My bow is rigid and my aim true. Allow me to prove such a thing so that my reputation may precede me in the future."

His verbose language catching Zelda off guard, she still managed to bow respectfully, offering, "Thank you again, Sir Revali."

Link could only mutely chuckle as he stoked at the flames before him.


	4. An Understanding in the Dark

The stars shimmered within the heavens above, along with the slight flames being the only things keeping Link company as he sat beside the fire, sat back in a relaxed pose as he stared into those flames licking the air. Occasionally he would pay credence to those blips of starlight, thinking of Zelda's words from earlier, though he would just as quickly reorient his thoughts, thinking of the mission to come, and how fruitless it seemed to be. Still, it was his assignment, and while he so rarely doubted that part himself that proved too loyal, tonight allowed such questions to just barely break over his mind.

"Can't sleep?" came Urbosa's voice from behind, causing Link to flinch just slightly, still remaining with his eyes on the flames.

He shrugged in reply, "I can't, even if I wanted to. Some skirmishes are going on down south."

"Ever the vigilant knight," Urbosa chuckled teasingly, making her way toward the fire and taking a seat as a breath of relief passed her lips, "You can't ever turn that off, can you?"

"My fealty?" Link questioned, "I'm not exactly supposed to."

Urbosa grinned, "I know we're sprouted from different cultures, but while every Gerudo takes a bow of service, they're not at all expected to hold so much on their shoulders at all times. Not nearly to the extent as you do, anyway."

With a half-hearted shrug, Link replied, "We don't have a desert to do most of our defending for us."

Urbosa scoffed, holding back a laugh, "You also don't have gigantic sand worms at your gates."

"Okay, touché," Link offered humorlessly, earning him another chuckle from Urbosa as she reached her hands out to better receive the fire's warmth.

She allowed a moment of silence to pass before speaking up once again, "That was quite a stunt, though, earlier. Are you required to start fights as well?"

Grinning, taking his turn to correct Urbosa, Link answered, "Actually, yes, back in the barracks. We'd spar and wrestle to improve comradery, but in the field, I'd say no."

"Such terrible traditions," Urbosa mused with a dismissive sigh.

Link glanced toward her with a smirk, "Don't tell me you all sit around like this and talk to build comradery."

Scoffing quickly, Urbosa answered simply enough, "No, no; we just take knives and bloodlet amongst our sisters to accomplish that."

Ignoring Link's sudden surprise, Urbosa turned to give a smirk of her own, "But thank you for taking this discussion as my attempt at getting us to know one another more. Saves me from having to beat around the bush."

"Wait," Link stopped her, "_Real_ bloodletting?"

Giggling mutely, Urbosa sighed as her eyes rolled, "You so easily believe such fantasy and yet you dismiss your own Princess' claims?"

Link frowned, "Taking you at your word that you cut each other up in the name of comradery is far different than taking Zelda at hers'."

"Hmm," Urbosa mused, nodding to herself.

"You're not the one claiming that these ancient, malevolent forces will somehow reappear out of the nether," Link shrugged, "Nor that these ancient Beasts are the keys to somehow defeating such an evil."

He watched Urbosa sit there unfazed, at though she weren't even taking his words into consideration, earning his inquiry, "You don't believe her, do you?"

Urbosa remained stagnant as she sat there, the light of the flames bouncing along her bodily form as her eyes remained transfixed, only allowing a single blink before answering, "Even if she's wrong, I see nothing wrong with what she has going on with this Company."

"Yes or no question."

Grinning, Urbosa shot Link a glance, "What good does my opinion do? At worst, we're improving the relationship of a myriad of people on this earth who all have to live alongside one another and cooperate. At best, we're doing a mighty fine job of keeping all those same people alive."

She shrugged, "I figured that's what kept you around for this."

Link dropped his head, "I'm here because my King instructed me to protect his daughter. I'm a single order away from leaving."

"Is that why you cling so desperately to that life?" Urbosa asked with a hint of aggression in her voice, as though hoping to get a rise out of her comrade, "Because it's so easy to live when you're only taking orders?"

Link glared at her, a quiet frustration growing as a result of her insinuation, "I'm a knight of the Kingdom of Hyrule. If you believe that life to be anything less than the most strenuous of existences, it's a testament to how little you know of my breed."

"Listen to you," Urbosa chuckled, "You sound as though you were born to take orders. I've seen you out in the field, boy; you're tapped for far greater than the lashing tongue of some higher-up."

Dismissively, Link turned his attention to the campfire, reaching for another log to place within their scorching reach, sending a billowing plume of smoke into the sky, before sitting back once again, turning silent while Urbosa watching him with curiosity. She gradually returned to her own self once it became apparent that Link was no longer interested in conversation, simply playing with some ornament on her vestment that had started to come undone.

"It's no one's place to question their fate," Link suddenly spoke up, a darkness tinging his voice.

Urbosa smirked suddenly, peering toward Link's direction, "Ah. Is that why you dislike Revali so much?"

Faintly, Link thought for a moment before replying, "He's a brute. He thinks he should own the whole world. But he should know, and understand, his place in this world; we _all_ should. Were his destiny able to back up his attitude, I wouldn't mind so much. But he's _just_ like me- nothing more than a whelp. and a whelp has no business hoping to advance themselves. It does nobody any good to hope for such things."

Her face having dropped slowly, Urbosa watched Link sadly as he spoke so concretely about himself, dreading such an existence for herself. But, then again, she'd had a pedigree herself; wasn't she simply doing as Link himself prescribed?

"The world needs whelps, whipping boys, worm-wranglers. We can't all leave those lives behind with nobody to fill them," Link concluded, again, rather easily, having thought about it for quite some time, clearly.

Urbosa lowered her head respectfully, though she wasn't sure why. Perhaps she felt for this man something along the lines of pity, but then, why? It certainly didn't seem to bother _him_. Maybe it simply was a chance for her to reflect on her own rule, one which she had fought hard to become as benevolent as she could make it. Might there be some, even under her rule, that faced the same mindset as Link? Surely not, she hoped.

Link's body tensed suddenly as Urbosa pushed herself up to her feet, looking off into the distance with an insightful enough stare that Link's own eyes wandered over to where she appeared to be envisioning. Slowly, keeping her eyes focused, she rounded the ring of stones guarding the fire, bending low to grab two scimitars she had brought with her, raising her arm to aim them out toward the open field just beyond Sanadin.

Uneasily, Link watched cautiously as Urbosa grinned, "Come on. We're gonna try some of that comradery you spoke up."

Link's brow curled in confusion, forcing Urbosa to snicker quietly to herself, "What, afraid of sparring with a girl?"

"I have _no_ problem dueling a woman," Link assured, "I've got a slight problem dueling _you_."

Urbosa's face shined with a proud grin, "I seem to have some of that preceding reputation Revali spoke of. We're still gonna spare, though; it'll get us both tired enough to sleep again."

Link refused, still, forcing Urbosa to cock a smirk, "That's an order."

Sighing heavily, Link pushed himself up, shaking his head, "You know I'm aware you're just screwing with me, right?"

"Yet here we are," she winked, handing off one of the swords before the two strode beyond the reaches of the campfire's flickering light."

Link asked solidly, "So what's the real reason for this?"

"I just need you to be aware of how able I am when it comes to protecting your Princess," Urbosa shrugged, "I cant have you staying up all day and all night simply because you think you're the only one capable here. We're a Company of Champions for a reason."

Eyeing her dismissively, Urbosa reiterated humorously, "Consider it a reality check."

"I'm the _only_ Hylian in this group bound to reality, you know…" Link groaned in reply, earning a laugh from his Gerudo companion.

Urbosa reassured, "Just take it as comradery building, then; as I said earlier. Though, if you're still too slow on your upswing, there may be some bloodletting yet."

Her chuckling betrayed her words, leaving Link slightly perturbed, if only because of her critique of his swordplay- how did she even remember such a thing from their previous meeting? Still, he remained aware of her own style of combat, the Gerudo's previous showings having grown somewhat into legend, even in her own lifetime. Lady Urbosa, known throughout Hyrule for her fluid, yet powerful, movements, meant to both confuse and astound opponents who just so happened to not have known the name. Even so, dread often came upon those foolish enough to challenge her, seriously, atop those sands she'd honed so much of her skills amongst.

"I'm just kidding; don't look so serious," Urbosa teased, readying her sword, "Loser gets one slash. If it's you, I'll make sure it's where no one can see it."

Link scoffed, allowing a smirk to cross his face as he dramatically swung his sword around in front of him, stepping back to take a striking pose, "I may just get a slash in during the duel, so make sure you're allowing yourself the movement to accept it where you'd like."

The two lost any sense of cordial language as they immediately drew their sword, pouncing at one another, sending a shining bolt of sword and spark flying through the air as their bodies wrangled and tore through the dark air. It was clear Urbosa had the advantage, dashing from side to side, flying through the air; however, Link's entire training predicated taking the defensive above all else, and he skillfully drew his sword back against his body to catch her blows, maneuvering his own body just in time with hers in order to dodge the blasts of metal coming his way.

Urbosa began to laugh happily as their duel progressed, much to Link's confusion, who was giving up all he could in terms of combat prowess. As his opponent's blows grew more and more endless, he felt his tired limbs begin to catch up with him; his gradually exhausted expression must have been the source of the opposing duelist's delight. Not long after, the butt of Urbosa's blade caught Link's elbow, forcing him to recoil to the side, where Urbosa swiftly caught him in the back, sending the Hylian to the ground with a THUD, leaving him grabbing a fistful of dirt as he worked his way back up to his feet, desperate to continue on, though Urbosa had already dropped her blade.

"Not bad," she surmised with a smile, "But I still believe I've won a chance to watch over your Princess, at least while you get some sleep."

"I'm fine," Link spoke, somewhat unconvincingly after exerting himself so heavily.

Sighing, Urbosa wondered aloud, "What are you trying to prove? That you're Hyrule's Toughest while staying awake twenty-five hours? Take a note from that duel- You can't watch your own back, not all the time."

Reaching a hand out to take grab hold of the sword in Link's hand, Urbosa shook her head, "You may not be a member of our Company, but you're among us all the same. We've gotta look out for one another."

Catching Link remaining still unfazed, Urbosa smirked, "or do you truly want to come across as proud as Revali?"

Such a statement finally seemed to catch something of a glimmer in Link's eye, the Hylian's sight finally falling toward the sword in his hand as his lips twisted in distaste. A chuckle left Urbosa in something resembling amusement as Link relinquished his hold, allowing her to take the sword back into her possession.

"We don't all have to like each other," Urbosa noted, "But we sure need to learn how to coexist amongst one another. And so long as you're unable to trust the rest of us with the safety of this Company- we're Champions for a reason- _I_ certainly won't be able to trust _you_ to make the right decisions."

She smirked, "or were you expecting to escort her through Gerudo Town?"

Link sighed, "You have a point."

"I have the victory, too," she replied with glee, pulling the sword upward and managing to only graze Link just below his shoulder, where the minor cut would remain hidden beneath his shirt.

His face grimaced only slightly as Urbosa hummed to herself, turning to retrieve her accompanying sword and returning back to the campsite, leaving Link to stew for a moment before following along, head hung low at the bruise atop his pride. Still, he knew it to be true; that Urbosa, and even Daruk and Mipha, were all more accomplished than he when it came to combat. Yet, he couldn't pinpoint why exactly it bothered him- he wasn't interested in this mission to begin with. But it was his life's work, his binding goal, his destiny, to protect the Royal Family to the best of his ability.

"Hee hee!" came a gleeful voice as Link stepped back onto the concrete pathway of Sanadin Park, his face curling with disgust as he recognized the voice of Revali.

"Had I not seen it with thine own eyes- I do believe you lost a duel to her!" he goaded on, snickering to himself.

Link muttered in reply, "There's no dishonor in losing to Lady Urbosa. You, however- were you ever to defeat me, I'd hide that shit in an instant."

Another wild giggle came from Revali as he stroked his feathers, perched atop one of the walls of the park, "T'would be an honor you're not exactly worthy of to fight me, I assure you. I've heard Hylian blood is an absolute terror to preen out of feathers, anyway."

"Not surprised with that bird brain of yours you wouldn't be able to figure it out."

Revali grinned, "I'll have you know, the great Rito researcher Kelneho spent years examining Rito and Hylian skulls and found at least one Rito to have a brain larger in comparison."

"Such science," Link replied with a droll expression, "Sure you don't wanna duel and find out between us?"

The Rito gave a dismissive grunt, "And ruin my callow charm? Doubtful. But please, tarry off to sleep now; we can't all have the privilege of requiring oiled feathers at all hours of the night."

Link sauntered off, shaking his head as Revali gave him a final critiquing glance before returning his attention to oiling his feathers, stroking his arm with his beak as the night sky grew to become his only company, with Urbosa by the fire, keeping watch, as Link received some rest.


	5. Shrine Tasting

_**Part One - Vah Naboris**_

The Company made their way up the ragged cliffside of Satori Mountain, more so rounding it than challenging the strenuous inclines that a direct route would encounter. Mipha took the fore, her slick skin allowing her to better challenge the Rock faces, while Daruk remained last, vigilantly prepared to make a mad dash to catch anybody who might fall, though Revali made it known, already, that gravity was a mere tempestuous beast for one with such a gift as he had, that of flight.

So lost in her map was Zelda that Link remained close behind her so that he may take hold of her shoulders, directing her when she inadvertently strode too near an edge, losing herself in millennia of histories upon the scroll of parchment paper in her hand.

"Oh, this is interesting," she suddenly mentioned aloud, "Mogg Latan is right up this next incline, it seems."

"Allow me to fetch a tissue," Revali muttered at her foreign words.

Zelda shook her head, "No, no, no. Back when Purah and I were first investigating-"

"Context, dear," Urbosa noted constructively.

Sighing dramatically, Zelda dropped her arms in front of her, "Purah is a Sheikah lady- you know, the oldest race of beings on this earth? When I first grew interested in all this old Sheikah technology being dug up, I went to her sister, Impa, who was uninterested in unlocking _that_ past, so-"

"H-Hold up," Daruk interrupted warily, "_That_ past? Why do you make it sound so ominous..?"

Zelda's brow curled worriedly, "I didn't make it sound that bad, did I? I just meant-"

"About as ominous as a tsunami ravaging the entirety of Death Mountain," Link teased, earning a particularly frightened glance from his sworn brother.

"No, no!" Zelda exclaimed impatiently, "Look, the Sheikah are wary of using _anything _from their past. Not because it's dangerous; just because they figure the past is where it belongs."

"Then you've got the Yiga Clan, Sheikah who believe that technology should have been used all along," Urbosa noted with a nod, "Though they're terribly bitter that their more-conservative kin have more or less 'won out' on public opinion."

Zelda held up her hands, "Not that any of that is relevant right this instant! Look, Purah and I went through and catalogued all of the known shrines, as well as those theoretical ones that pass along the ley lines at key junctions- little invisible pathways through the ground that act like a network that binds all Sheikah technology. So we essentially named them all as landmarks so that, at the very least, they'll have some use until we figure out how to use them."

"Hmm, what about that shrine just as you pass into Gerudo Desert?" Urbosa wondered aloud, "What's it called?"

Zelda brought her map back up, closing it in onto her face at the tiny script, "Uhh… Kay Noh Shrine."

"Bwah ha ha! Such silly names!" Daruk exclaimed happily.

Mipha's voice perked up, "Must be derived from the old Sheikah language, correct?"

"Exactly; we figured that would be the most reverent thing to do, if only to remind us of the past," Zelda confirmed easily.

Hiding a giggle at the prospect of the giant formation in the center of her home, what name would it have, Mipha asked, "May I ask about the one within Zora's Domain?"

Zelda nodded inattentively, as though her attention were far elsewhere, but answered, "Hmm, I think- Ne'ez Yohma."

"Pfft," Daruk managed, quickly covering his mouth to shield the others from his boisterous laughter.

"You can let it loose, Daruk; nobody will be offended," Zelda offered with a soft smile.

He quickly shook his head, still pressing his hand against his face, "Last time I gave anything more than a chortle, the mountain I was standing let me know it disapproved. I'd hate to know my carelessness would be putting our troupe in danger."

"Oh, by the skies above!" Revali exclaimed, turning to Daruk with a fierce expression, "Just imbibe, you man of mineral! You haven't an inkling how it sets my feathers asunder when people deny pleasure- just let loose! C'mon! Ha!"

Daruk's face twisted into something that emulated a blush as Revali repeated, "Come on! HA!"

"H-Ha…"

The group coming to a stop, turning to watch the odd scene, Urbosa dropped her face into her hand, "Daruk, would you please just go along with it so we may move along?"

Daruk bit his lip, "But I don't quite feel like laughing anymore..."

Groaning, Revali turned toward Zelda, "Recite more from the scroll of immense study, if you would."

Zelda's brow curled with confusion as she turned her attention to her parchment paper, though Revali quickly reoriented his ire, "No, no- actually, you, Zora, you have the voice of a crestfallen octo who's just peered upon the horizon, you'd be better to recite."

"P-Pardon..?"

"Recite! Please, it would do me the honor!" Revali goaded, puffing up his chestful of feathers in preparation for Mipha's recitation.

She turned toward Link for reassurance, the Hylian merely shrugging in reply as Mipha lowered her head in defeat, reaching out for the scroll of paper Zelda was offering her, even the Hyrulian Princess wearing a look of worry. Still, Mipha's resolve was strengthened by the eyes upon her in expectation, clearing her throat as she squinted at the foreign script.

"Uh… D-Dayn Whoma…," she weakly eeked out with worrisome eyes turned atop the scroll toward Revali, who quickly spun his head to examine Daruk.

"Well?" he wondered aloud, "Why have you not lightened the hearts, yet, of your peers with your spirited ejection of laughter?"

Grabbing his stomach, Daruk weakly answered, "I'm just a bit queasy at the moment…"

His piercing eyes narrowing as his mind churned with curiosity, Revali's onslaught was interrupted by Urbosa slipping the scroll from Mipha's hands and rolling it up, slapping it across her wrist to gather the Company's attention, "At this rate, we'll not make it back down before nightfall. Zelda, if you'd please."

"Y-Yes!" Zelda yipped attentively, her eyes curiously resting atop of Mipha as she readied her speech, "We press on. Mipha, if you don't mind remaining up front?"

Nodding diligently, Mipha strode back toward the front, making a point to hide her face from Link as she passed by him, forcing a curious few thoughts to from in the man's head as he watched her only fleetingly, retraining his attention back toward the group before falling into formation.

* * *

"There!" Zelda shouted excitedly, bursting forth from the single-filed group to dash up the final embankment concealing the giant, ornate structure that sat nestled along the cliffside.

The Company trudged up that same mound that Zelda had so desperately bolstered her resolve to overtake, finding her having already taken the lifeless terminal that poked out from the front of the shrine itself in her hands, running her skin over the coolly smooth surface. Link groaned, having already recognized Zelda's fascination with these things from their original journey, though he still made it to her side amidst the confused musings from behind him.

"Intriguing," Daruk nodded, reaching out to run his own hand along the odd surface of the shrine, following one of the discolored strands of squiggling lines that embraced the rock-like formation, "This is no rock I'm familiar with. Its igneous, though; considering the Sheikah were building these so long ago, it's possible the world was such that they had access to earth we know nothing of."

"An astute observation!" Zelda opined happily, turning to Link, "Do you concur?!"

Link's eyes narrowed with confusion, having no clue as to what she was wanting from him, only watching as Zelda returned to the structure, "Either this is foreign rock- like from a comet or shooting star- or perhaps it's somehow manufactured?"

"Manufactured?" Daruk questioned while stroking his chin.

Mipha spoke up, "Vah Ruta _does_ create it's own water, independent of any climate conditions. I suppose if the Sheikah were capable of that-"

She paused as Zelda froze, save for her eyes tensing in study, lowering herself closer to the strange pedestal until her face was nary a few inches away, leaving Urbosa to warn, "Watch it. She's in scholar mode."

Zelda sent a glare toward the Gerudo woman, "I'm _not_ in some mode."

"I do believe the same look is brought upon fish from their skyward brethren in nature," Revali shrugged, "Particularly before a very intense swooping that results in a pin-point snatching of said fish into one's beaks."

"Translation," Urbosa grinned, "Scholar Mode: Activated."

Like a gremlin, Zelda spun slowly back toward her ancient terminal with a curled face, simply returning to her scrutiny of the object while Link pointed out, "There seems to be a spot for your slate, huh?"

"Yeah, but-" Zelda sighed, "Purah and I tried as many shrines as we could reach, to no avail. It's almost like they're all powered down or something."

Weakly still, she pulled her Sheikah Slate from her pocket, sliding it into the simple slot upon the terminal, again, to no results. Even so, most of the group had had their curiosity piqued, with even Ravali giving the Slate a glance as though expecting it to work some magic to power on the shrine.

Sighing, Zelda pulled away the Slate, "And _that's_ what is called a failed hypothesis."

"Pah," Revali scoffed, "What was, once, does not always remain. I've trail the skies, all throughout my life, with such an idea plastered upon my mind."

He brought a feathered arm across his chest before bowing, "Some Rito wisdom to pass onto the Princess of Hyrule Kingdom. I only hope to continue such a trend."

Urbosa hid her rolling eyes while Link curled his lips inward, biting down to keep from scoffing aloud.

Zelda wiggled a finger across her face in thought, her eyes turning suspiciously toward Daruk, "Might you be able to tell this rock and the material of the Beasts to be similar?"

"Uhh…" Daruk replied warily, "I suppose I could, but- I was never good at retention of- That is to say-"

He chuckled, scratching the back of his head nervously as his brow curled with embarrassment, "I _was_ always better acquainted with, uh- taste, I suppose."

"Oh, by the _goddess_," Revali exclaimed unhappily, rolling his head along his shoulders, "I'm to be told we're beginning this venture by having a Goron take a taste of some stony structure only to taste _another_ and compare the two's compositions?!"

Urbosa grinned, "It's a pretty neat trick, Rito."

"Indeed," Link nodded, taking a chance at a jab, "I'd like to catch _you_ doing him one better."

Revali physically cringed in revulsion, the two currently facing the quandary not having noticed the rest of the Company's arguing, instead finding Zelda seriously considering Daruk's offer. She peered at the structure inquirously, finally pounding a fist into her open palm, turning toward the Goron enthusiastically.

"Will you?!"

"I- I suppose, but-" he replied, eyeing the others, "Could, uh- you guys turn away..?"

Revali let loose another scoff as Zelda hurriedly spun away from the shrine, gesturing at the others to follow along, with a hushed number of disbelieving tones in accompaniment. His nervousness levied for a few precious moments, Daruk was left alone with nothing more than his intention to leave a good first impression for the Princess, taking a deep breath before reaching his face closer toward the shrine's outermost casing, his tongue stretching out and ever so delicately pressing against-

"AAA!" he cried out loud, throwing his head back amidst the Company's sudden whirling around to figure out what had happened, Daruk crying out painfully again, his tongue held beyond his lips, "AAAA!"

Revali crossed his arms, shaking his head as Link burst past him, forcing the Rito to steady himself before muttering, "Welp, he's done for."

Tears swelled up in Daruk's eyes as his arms flailed around, his feet dancing in place as his cries carried on, forcing Link to quickly take to the soil below, Zelda's worried shouting joining the noisy atmosphere, "Daruk?! A-Are you okay?!"

"AAAH!" came his reply, as though he were a child greeted with a disagreeable taste, though unable to spit it out.

Link took a handful of dirt and rushed toward Daruk, tossing the dry dirt right into the Goron's face, an allotment of the soil catching his face, meeting the Company with a moment of quieted whimpers from Daruk, though not for long, his cries immediately continuing as he shook his head rapidly as though to communicate to Link that his action hadn't took.

"This is just-" Revali murmured as he looked off into the distance, unable to realize that he'd become the target of Link's rushed stare.

In a split second, Link aimed a finger toward the Zora among them, "Mipha! Your knife!"

Her eyes growing wide, Mipha didn't bother to argue, simply grabbing hold of the Zoran knife at her waist while Link zoomed toward Revali, stealing a stride beneath his wayward glare and pilfering an arrow from his quiver, the movement forcing his attention back onto the Hylian, "I BEG your PARDON, whelp?!"

Mipha tossed the knife past Zelda's trembling frame and into Link's free hand, before he began rapidly sliding the knife along the length of the arrow's head, rushing to collect metallic shavings from the Rito's ammunition, much to the revulsion of Revali.

Daruk continued to wail, though came to sudden halt as Link tossed the metal shavings into his mouth, the Goron suddenly beginning to calm down, much to the relief of Zelda, especially, who quickly strode toward Daruk as Link backed up with a sigh, the Princess immediately doing all she could to hug the man.

"I- I'm so sorry!" she cried in apology.

The Goron shook his head before clearing his throat, "N-N-No prob-lem. I j- That was the foulest, most disgusting taste I've ever had the displeasure of tasting!"

"As if that were not _obvious_ from the very start!" Revali spewed as he yanked the ruined arrow from Link's hand, sneering toward the Hylian, "You'd better hope I decide not to peck out an eyebrow because of that."

Link sneered back in a sarcastic fashion as Daruk's voice returned mid-sentence, "-had it not been for my sworn brother! Such quick thinking!"

Shrugging, Link assured him, "I remembered that time you took a bite out of that rock eye and found a ruby inside it only after chewing it up. Your friends seemed to have already realized what your Company has- your taste is not only your biggest attribute-"

"Hm, yes; it's my biggest weakness as well," Daruk chuckled, gently patting Zelda's head as she pulled away, "Worry not, Prin- er, Zelda. I must assure you that doing my best to perform your requests does nothing less than please me."

Zelda sighed, "Well- at least warn me, next time. I do not wish for any of you to go through any trouble for _my_ sake."

"Well, if you truly wish for me to accomplish this task, please, may the goddess allow us to come across something better able to sate my pallet aside from, uh, Revali's…"

He turned toward Revali, who'd still kept his head turned away in a huff, arms crossed. Slowly enough, at being referred to, the Rito man's eyes peered from their narrowed window before quickly shutting again, allowing Revali his stuffy air as he replied.

"Were it not so jarring to discover that the very things meant to keep me alive were also something of a delicacy…"

Grinning, Urbosa reached over to playfully tap the Rito's shoulders, "Perhaps you shouldn't do _any_ pecking, now that Link knows to simply sick his Goron brother on your arrows."

A fierce stare lead from Revali to Link, his feathers brushing against the breeze while he frowned, leaving Urbosa to continue along, breaking the tension with a rousing declaration, "Okay, we've been lollygagging too much! Zelda, would you please do the honors of continuing our expedition to the summit?"

Zelda felt the stares trailing from Urbosa to herself, a quivering running along her spine as those pairs of eyes all came upon her, the Princess' voice shaking back into normalcy, "O-Okay! Champions! We'll-"

"-and Link…" Revali muttered in a heated breath.

A strand of awkward air pattered amongst the group, leaving Zelda to pick up the pieces on the fly, "Er, let's press on! We'll take a break at the summit after we've offered our prayers, and hopefully, be back at the base by nightfall. Alright?"

Only nodding heads came in reply, allowing Zelda to turn back up toward the incline just nearby, trudging upward as the rocky terrain ended, leaving Mipha off point for the time being. Her resolve, she hoped, would drown out the insecurities she felt about those stares that rested upon her after Urbosa took control of the group.

Stares that certainly appeared to her to be ones of uncertainty.


	6. The Rito's Tale

_**A/N: I do apologize to anybody wholly uninterested in my fake legends of these BotW races xD Any of them I present, however, will certainly relate to the characters themselves, if not now, then later on- while I'm totally fine creating and exploring these cultures, there might as well be meaning behind them :p Hopefully they interest you somewhat, at the very least :)**_

* * *

Zelda knelt down, clasping her hands together just beside the tiny lake of water that sat bowled near the peak of Satori Mountain, bowing her head reverently below the flaking blossoms from the tree above. The rest of the Company bowed their heads as well, though it was only Zelda who took the few steps forward to offer up her prayer to the guardian spirit that was said to reside there: the Lord of the Mountain.

In hushed tones, she began her prayer, "Guardian spirit of the mountain. Please watch over this Company of Champions as we seek only the highest good."

Her chest heaved in worry, "Please allow this troupe to get along. Please allow me the opportunity to accept my destiny. I don't know what it might be, and the spirits of the great shrines had nothing to tell me. Perhaps you might allow me the chance to understand."

Her voice tugged at her throat as she spoke them quietly, not daring to allow the others to hear her, though her head lowered even further, her voice shaking as she thought of the journey ahead of them.

"Please let me be right about this…"

With that, she took a deep breath before nodding to herself in conclusion. As if in continued blessing, she dipped her fingers into the waters of the small pool of water before rising to her feet, turning back to the Company who began raising their heads expectantly.

"Alright," Zelda began with a nod, "That should do it, hopefully. We'll take a quick rest up here- Link, you go on and prepare a meal for us, and then we'll break camp and try to return to the base of Satori before nightfall. Is that a plan?"

Daruk raised a triumphant fist, "Any plan involving the food of my sworn brother is a good one!"

"Indeed," Mipha nodded with a grateful smile, "It made quite an impression on the few of us Zora who tasted it."

Grumbling nervously, Link scratched his neck as he peered away into the distance, "It's no big deal…"

"Pfwah!" Daruk scoffed aloud, swinging the large cooking pan from his pack, "You learned enough to knock the rocks off of some of our finest gortisseries! eh, including me!"

Hovering over Link, his eyes drew expectantly, "So what are you making..?"

"Well hold your horses," Link instructed, "I learned how to cook in the army, on extended lookouts. You've got nothing _but_ time, so you learn how to cook food slowly, extracting each and every flavor."

Mipha's fin flopped ungracefully from side to side in curtailed expectation, "You even manage to make it sound good before having started."

"It probably isn't all _that_," Revali challenged suddenly, waving a feathered hand through the air, "Taking some dead think and stripping it of its skin, or letting your flora sit and lose most of what it offers. Tell me, Hylian, have you caught the thrill of snapping your prey from the very earth at top speed?"

Link eyed him, "No, but I had a fox crawl into a trap of mine once. Is it similar to that?"

"You may have your jokes, but we Rito have only the finest cuisine amongst this land," he bragged, raising his head high, "Only _we_ understand the quickness associated with all things succulent and juicy. Head lose the pelt, where do you think all that goes?"

Link shrugged, readying the communal meal, "Keep on like that and you're not getting a portion. I'll go easy on the seasonings, though; I'd hate to blow you away with my first meal."

Revali scoffed, but his rumbling stomach couldn't help but force him to remain somewhat curious of the man's words. Still, he puttered away while Mipha and Daruk remained in view of the pan of growing ingredients, subservient to their desires. They remained nearby, all to anxious to eat, and all to happy to help Link with gathering anything he needed in order to continue preparing.

Along the mountainous earth however, Zelda remained seated by herself, watching the others with a solemn gaze, quick to turn away at any point when their eyes might have met her own. She did her best to remain as though she were busy with other things, slipping her Slate from her belt and toying with it, though the device remained shut off. Her sidelong glances remained, longingly staring toward the others as they seemed to be so entertained by the goings-on that remained outside of her grasp.

"Princess," Urbosa suddenly spoke from her side, launching Zelda into a quick hop of surprise as her head yanked to look up toward the Gerudo woman, her deep voice chuckling happily, "Don't seem so surprised."

Zelda took in a sharp breathe before apologizing, "S-Sorry."

Shrugging, Urbosa took a seat beside the younger woman, "No need to apologize. Just came by to check on you; your face seemed kind of lonesome.:

Zelda scoffed, turning an incredulous toward Urbosa, "Lonesome? I'm in a Company, of my own assembly no less. I'm not lonesome; I can't afford to be! I'm a leader now, thank you very much."

Huffing confidently, Zelda shut her eyes as she raised her head proudly, offering up a grin from Urbosa, who mutely giggled to herself, "So confident, huh? Well, far be it from me to question such a thing; I was merely coming by to ask."

Urbosa went ahead and pulled her scimitar into her lap, its edge still tender from the night before, taking this chance to pull out a sharpening stone which she carefully ran along the sharpened edge, truing the blade as best she could. The _shhiiick shhiiick_ of her motion laced the air as Zelda kept a secretive glance on the campfire, Daruk and Mipha so ensconced with the smells emanating from whatever concoction Link had already managed to cook up, with even Revali staring from afar, his curiosity piqued as well.

As surely as Urbosa had mentioned it, Zelda's heart tugged longingly. She'd never had a plethora of friends, most of her acquaintances having come from handmaids or servants of her father's choosing, none of whom ever truly showing anything that might have been called a friendly demeanor. Even her schooling had been done within the castle walls, her tutors showing nothing of charisma either. To be sure, her mother had been the only true friend Zelda had ever had, and whenever Urbosa came to visit, it was easily the happiest times of those long-ago days.

Apart from that, her journey with Link had been the first point where she'd truly been able to spread her wings, physically as well as socially; her entire life of longing for friends being dashed by a silent soldier. Even surrounded by friendly people within this Company, she couldn't help but feel apart from the lot of them. She knew she was awkward, an attribute developed by her ravenous studying in place of friendships, and that her status as a Princess often presented her far more reverence than she ever cared to be shown.

"Would we be here if not for _him_..?" Zelda wondered aloud, quietly, her head hanging low as she caught Urbosa's questioning glance.

Urbosa gave a quizzical stare toward the others, "…Who, Link?"

Sighing lightly, Zelda curled her arms around her knees, pulling them into her chest, "I mean-"

Silence fell upon her, though Urbosa quickly recognized her to be in a saddened mood. For all the teasing she performed on this young one, she had truly developed something of an understanding when it came to Zelda and her emotions; for one so socially inefficient, she never did hide them well to begin with. Still, it allowed Urbosa something of maternal satisfaction, and she gently reached a hand over to press against Zelda's back, rubbing along there to alleviate some of her anguish.

"I used to hate him so much," Zelda muttered quietly under her breath, "He so proudly flaunts his destiny, eager to remind everybody where his duty lies. How easy it must have been for him to be born a guard, knowing from birth what his life would amount to. I despised that, knowing my own destiny continues to be non-existent. Why should a Princess lack a purpose while a soldier is so confident in their own…"

Her body raised in quiet glee as she chuckled sadly, "That's immature though. I tried so hard to understand _him_ instead, to put my insecurities aside. But… I cant help but think, once again, I'm merely piggybacking off the destiny of another. Were it not for Link, the Champions would not extend beyond the two of us…"

"Ah, well," Urbosa began with quiet exasperation, "I had no idea that _you_, Princess Zelda of the Kingdom of Hyrule, had _any_ intuition or foreknowledge of what fate the Great Goddess, Hylia, might have placed upon you, or anybody else! Please, you _must_ tell _me_, sooner than later, what She has in store for my own self! I would quite keen on such divine knowledge!"

Zelda tried to hold back her laughter, arising from such a tame show of credulous sarcasm from the closest person she had to a mother, allowing Urbosa to continue on unabated, though she did wrangle in her mood, "We don't know any of these things. And if Link is right about one thing- there's no point killing yourself trying to figure out what's in store for you. Maybe it _is_ more difficult for you for a reason, but-"

Her eyes wandered over toward the rest of the group, her head falling to the side, "Perhaps your fates are intertwined in some way. Who knows until it happens. But until then, there's little point in you being so apart from them. Who cares how, or who brought them to this point; maybe that's how She brought you to this noble journey, through his own journeys."

"Or maybe this is all flying in the face of every one of our fates," Urbosa replied with an exaggerated shrug, her arms outstretched as she did so, "In any case, make some friends. Regardless of your fate, friendships are wonderful to have."

She grinned, "You've known _me_ long enough; you know your mother would totally same the same thing."

Zelda thought quietly to herself for a brief set of moments, turning toward Urbosa with a timid voice, "How do I do that?"

"I don't know; tell stories or something- you know a lot of those, don't you?"

Zelda sighed, "Sadly. What I get for having more books for friends than people…"

Smiling, Urbosa leaned over to playfully lob a shoulder into Zelda' side, "Well, guess what; they're all stuck with you now. You can't exactly mess up being friends with them."

"Ugh…" Zelda groaned queasily, shaking her head, "You're only making me more nervous."

Urbosa smirked, "Part of my job, my Princess. Now, my other job is to eat, and whatever's over there is calling my name, so-!"

She rose to her feet, offering a hand to the younger of the two, "C'mon. Nothing soothes the heart, or creates friendship quite like food. Probably why so many people like him to begin with."

After the trek up the mountain, as well as the subsequent worrying, Zelda felt her empty stomach tangle up within her, slowly taking Urbosa's hand and bringing herself up to her feet as well, following along at the Gerudo's side while Urbosa pounded at her chest, sending a booming voice across the peak.

"I am now prepared to fight you all for the lot of that delicious-smelling dish!"

Daruk's face jumped up to meet here's, gritting his teeth as he took a swipe at the air, "You'll have to surrender the mightiest of Gorons to sate such a desire!"

Grinning sincerely, Urbosa leaned in toward Zelda, "See? Easy."

"Easy..?" Zelda murmured to herself, trying to ward off thoughts of being pummeled by a being eight times her size.

* * *

Bowls were passed around, much to the hopefulness of much of the Company, the uncertainty of Revali, who requested switching bowls from one of the others, just in case, and the expectation of Zelda, who'd often been the recipient of Link's cooking during their first journey, though being the more practical sorts, they'd gone without many accouchements that might otherwise lend to those meals being 'delicious'. Even working off the land, Link managed to create interestingly good dishes, so now, having spices and herbs, she had been expecting quite the jump in taste.

"I must say, eating off the wilds of Zorana most my life, this is certainly interesting," Mipha admitted curiously, poking at the soupy contents of her bowl.

Link nodded, "Well, it's de-boned heron, fixed with sautéed mushrooms in butter, covered by a radish stock. I figured I'd start you all off with one of my favorites."

"Favorites?" Mipha asked, suddenly more curious as she respectfully pulled her spoon from its poking and prodding, "Might I ask what heron is?"

Already pouring Daruk his third helping, Link answered, "It's a bird with a long neck. This one was from Northern Tabantha."

Mipha felt a chill down her spine as her eyes jumped across the fire, Revali's eyes staring like bullets at Link, his spoon nary an inch from his open beak and his eyes narrowed critically, figure paused in something resembling incredulity.

"Do you not eat cucco, though?" Daruk asked boisterously, his curiosity piqued by Revali's inability to eat as the Goron might.

Revali sneered, dropping the spoon into his bowl and starting over, carefully avoiding the bits of meat within, "…we try not to point it out."

Shrugging, Daruk turned to Mipha, "The Zora's eat fish, do they not?"

"Quite readily, actually," she smiled, her pride in her people coming to the fore, "Porgy is simply the best prepared steamed! We have scouts run down the Necluda streams and catch them- only the best can accomplish this feat!"

Scoffing as his feathers puffed, Revali nagged, "I _do_ apologize if I do not exactly share enthusiasm with one who sees the scales upon their skin as well as the scales upon fish and see little or nothing wrong with such ravenous activity."

Mipha's head and shoulders began to contract forward, as if hiding herself, leaving Daruk to charge in reply, "You _just_ mentioned-"

"We eat feathered fowl _for_ _necessity_," Revali noted haughtily, raising his head, "We Rito would _never_ debase ourselves for our most primitive of desires; we are simply too good for such things."

Noticing Mipha's dejected air, Link reached his spoon over and dropped a rather hefty piece of mushroom, from the height of its stem, into her bowl, muttering quietly, "There. That's the best part. Don't let him get to you."

Mipha's eyes raised in solemn comfort, staring as Link returned to nursing the pot of food, in the event that anybody required seconds, or fifths. She felt that same chill from moments ago as she studied Link's straight face, his eyes peering into the dish of his own design. Carefully, Mipha took her spoon as the arguing before her continued its drowned out acoustics, her mouth nearly burning at the acceptance of the soup, its heat trailing down through her body in the most delightful of ways. She'd forgotten how cold Zora cuisine tended to be; this sort of fulfilling warmth was seen as too indulgent, but now, it seemed just what she needed after her previously disheartened mood.

"As it says in the great stories of the bird god, Witwa! The product of a feather's premature end is-"

Daruk roared, "I can _not_ for legend; why don't you care to taste my sworn brother's dish?!"

Revali's face curled, "And you have the nerve to continue eating while engaged in this threadbare conversation?!"

"It's DELICIOUS!" Daruk replied, shoving another spoonful into his mouth.

Suddenly, Urbosa's voice broke through, "Boys, cut it out! Daruk, as we've already seen, Revali hasn't a problem eating _around_ the heron, just leave him be. And Revali, can you not at least show some semblance of respect for the man with whom this meal was made possible?"

A neck twitch coming from the Rito accompanied Daruk's frown, though the two men eventually came to something of an agreement, Revali sighing with that same haughty air, "I suppose I might could enfeeble myself in the name of respect. Witwa _might_ just accept an apology in that instance."

Daruk grumbled, taking in his fourteenth bowl, "Each their own, I suppose."

Taking a deep breath, Urbosa nodded, finally able to enjoy her dish with the spirited conversation having died down, "Now, perhaps our leader has some words to say."

"I-I do?!" Zelda asked nervously, immediately feeling the eyes of everybody upon her, earning nothing but indifference from Urbosa as she continued eating, "Uh, I- Revali! Tell us about this Witwa character!"

Quickly tossing the baton to another, Revali proudly raised his head, smiling as bright as anybody among the Company had seen him, "Ah, yes! Our lord Witwa! Well, it began as a tale between the three triplet birds created by Hylia's handmaid, Farore. There was Witwa, the oldest, and his brother and sister, Timte and Vurla. Witwa was wise as he was powerful, and his jealous siblings plotted to overtake him, the resulting battle atop the Hebra Mountains causing enough of a traumatic moment upon the land of Hyrule that, to this day, it results in rockslides and avalanches, these ancient tremors even rocking our very village atop its mighty perch! Vurla was killed, but Timte remained against his elder brother, even though he was greatly disadvantaged. As it is told, Witwa rained his might upon his younger brother for hundreds of years, though Timte remained steadfast, taking the brunt of every strike, again and again, praying for any opportunity to rise to the ranks of his brother. Only by a bit of trickery was he finally defeated by our lord Witwa!"

"Trickery?" Zelda asked, ensconced.

Revali grinned wide, gleefully accepting such a question about his heritage, "Witwa was _too_ wise, and had already deduced the love affair between the younger siblings. Bringing the bones of Vurla to the fore, her body having decayed entirely during the prolonged battle, Timte's mind was tossed asunder, and he was bested by the greatest among the three! Though, one cannot help but empathize for the younger Timte; such resilience has not been witnessed since."

"Wow, how fascinating," Zelda nodded sincerely, having forgotten to eat as her ears had been filled instead, "Aren't the triplet birds meant to symbolize the three corners of Tabantha?"

With a notably gaze upon the Hylian Princess with all the humility of a teacher upon a student, Revali answered, "Why, yes! We have one so knowledgeable amongst our group!"

Zelda tried to hide her bashful smile as Revali's chest puffed out in proud elegance, "You must know, then, of the Tale of the Flightless Mother! Bossia lost her cygnets in the ravine that had gone hollow, and their tail feathers came back wet! Bwah ha ha! Such a silly one, indeed! Had I a mother, I can tell you, I would be goading her all the same!"

He continued his gleeful howling, his laughter contrasting the dark air surrounding Urbosa as she carefully left her spoon resting along the rim of her bowl. Link's eyes went sidelong, watching her carefully as Urbosa's face fell, leaving Zelda to muster the courage to try and alter the trajectory of the conversation she herself had started.

"Eh, Reval-"

He interrupted her suddenly, lost in his capricious bellowing of verbose language, "Parentage can be such a fickle thing to begin with- I haven't a clue why anybody would ever predicate their continued existence with the idea that any child would-"

A loud _clang _broke the air, silencing the Rito as the rest of the party ran their gaze toward Urbosa, her head drawn down low. Her bowl had been dropped to the ground, her body ever so still for a moment before the sauntered upward onto her feet, turning to step away from the group without a word. Amidst the worried expressions of the Company, Revali merely returned to his own bowl with a shrug.

"Much like the Rito themselves, our stories don't often land with everybody," he surmised trivially, "Anyway, Bossia took those wet feathers and-"

"Just hush already," Link challenged lowly, poking at the campfire with faint motions.

Offended, Revali charged back, "I _beg_ your pardon, Hylian! Was not I who was given charge of the reins of conversa-"

"Urbosa can't have children," Zelda muttered, frowning sadly with her own head buried toward her chest, trying her best to bridge the divide, "I mean, she _can_, but- then again, she cannot. It's…not something she cares to be reminded of."

Revali's glare turned droll, in disbelief of such a trifling event having broken his own rousing telling of his people's stories, though he simply scoffed to himself before returning to his bowl, still able to feel the mood, which had fallen to something of woeful patience, Daruk and Mipha both able to catch sight of Urbosa across the peak, staring off into the distance as she settled down. While Zelda had the most knowledge of this entire thing, Link had pieced together enough on his own, simply focusing on the flames beneath the pot as he often did among his brigades. Most often, his comrades would mutter on about women, ales, many things Link hadn't much of any interest in.

He'd become so good at staring down only those flames, zoning the world out, sitting quiet. It was one of the things he'd found himself to be rather skilled at, and given the boisterous retaliations of many, being quiet was quite the skill in Link's experience.


	7. Crossing Atop Pages

With Urbosa's mood sullied, and the rest of the Company either uneasy or wholly indifferent to the current state of emotions, Zelda had taken only a quite look toward the waning sunlight to make the call to remain atop Satori for the night, simply to progress delicately enough in these early stages. She had described it to Link while setting up camp as a cross-country runner stretching before a sprint, and although Link remained completely indifferent himself, probably even wishing the troupe simply finished their job so that he could return to his normal existence, he managed to keep his thoughts merely to himself.

With the night sky taking its course, the light strokes of flames billowing up from the campfire reflectively bounced atop the crimson skin of Mipha as she sat in quiet watch, wielding her picture book that Zelda had given along her lap, smiling softly to herself as her eyes scrolled along the pages. As her fingers carefully turned the page, a smile crossing ever so gently across her face while her free hand reached up to hold onto the end of her ruby-like dorsal fin, running her thumb along its tender skin as she followed along with the story within her book.

Every now and then, her eyes fluttered over toward the small lake that shared the peak with the Company, the soft pink leaflets glittering in her peripheral vision as they somehow floated along the top of the still waters. Such a sight gave her an itch to swim for a bit, though her own sense of duty prevented her from doing so, a mischievous grin crossing her face as she thought, also, of her own gleeful squeals were she to indulge. Surely, it would wake the others.

Her lithe skin crawled as the sounds of crinkling movement arose behind her, the stroking of her fin casing as she turned to examine the sleeping bodies at her back, finding Link working his way to his feet, rubbing the butt of his palm across his eyes, strolling sleeplessly over toward the quiet flames, earning a nervous blush from Mipha, knowing what was to be said, already.

Sure enough, concealing a yawn, Link muttered as he strode closer, "Shoulda woken me up to take over lookout."

"My apologies," she replied with a furtive smile, "I suppose I just lost track of the time reading."

Link nodded, "Ah, that fairy tale book Zelda mentioned."

He grunted while he stretched, standing by the fire while his arms reached up toward the stars, curling backwards while Mipha watched in amusement. Letting loose a quieted sigh of contentment, Link returned his attention to Mipha while he took a seat by the fire as well.

"I wouldn't have thought we _had_ that many stories, and that's coming from a knight; all we used to do was tell stories," Link admitted surely, shrugging, "It's good you're enjoying yourself, though."

Mipha smiled, bowing her head, "However many there are, they are quite enjoyable. Your fables often focus on values so foreign to us Zora. Mortality, it seems, features far more prominently. Probably given your life-spans are much shorter. Avarice is another theme that we don't often encounter in our stories. Fate, finding somebody- those, too, might be a result of the fleeting nature of a Hylian's life."

Link grinned, "You make it sounds as though a hundred years is just a moment in time."

"Well…" Mipha averted her eyes, casting her assuring smile toward the ground, "Maybe compared to a Zora it could be. Everything is so…magnified by you Hylians."

"Is that true?"

Mipha nodded, "I mean, by the time you experience puberty, our children are merely popping out from the cleansing waters after spending years as tadpoles, their fins all aflutter as they rush around, as unsure of their bodies as they are the world around them."

Link's head turned toward her as he caught her attempting to smother a giggle, her temporal keel fins at the sides of her head draping low to inadvertantly cover her, though her arm reaching toward her face gave it away, alongside the cautious vibrations running throughout her body.

"My brother," she managed between intermittent gasps of gleeful giggles, "You remember-"

"Sidon," Link nodded.

"Sidon, yes," Mipha confirmed lightly, just managing to control her elation, "He would get so charged up with whatever zeal comes across the heart of a child; then would dash off, only to trip on his dorsal fin, hitting the ground with a hopeful enough spirit that he would simply hurry back to his feet, only noting the mistake long enough to simply carry his fin in his arm."

Such recounting only forced her to giggle some more, her flighty breaths even causing Link to smile mildly himself, thinking back on those days, before his knighthood, where life alongside his mother seemed so much easier. Not only did Mipha evoke such memories, but her very behavior, how light and optimistic she often came across, only reminded Link more of that childish point in time, one so deprived in his adulthood.

"He was a mess, wasn't he?" Link acknowledged, "Does it just come with royal blood to want to solve every little thing that might just be a problem?"

Sighing deeply to regain her breath, Mipha leaned back into her relaxed posture, which seemed rather rigid to anybody not raised as she'd been, shrugging subtly, "It might just be the ones more willing to put their people above themselves that make for better leaders."

"I don't know about that," Link muttered in reply, slowly tilting himself sideways before stretching out his arms, lying there on his side with his head propped up by his forearm, "Wasn't too many kings ago the Kingdom sought to kill off the Zoras that had settled in the wetlands."

Mipha's eyes fluttered toward him, "Depending on how you look at it, he very well could have been putting his people before himself. Ensuring them land to spite his reputation."

A quiet Link lowered his gaze for only a brief moment before turning toward Mipha incredulously, "You, a Zora, are gonna look at it in such a way?"

"No, but it could have been the case, regardless of how I, myself, understand it," Mipha answered with a twinge of light in her voice, "Those were dark times for my people, but- It's folly to ignore what others believe. That's partially why I joined this Company."

She smiled, raising her book up, "This might have been the rest of the reason."

"No kidding," he replied with a shake of the head at how easily she'd accounted for an event far closer to her lifetime than his own.

The Zora chuckled lightly as silence began to seep into the air around them, Mipha's attention gradually returning to her book while Link watched the flames before him, his eyes trailing up along their licking tails before sometimes catching the stars above, so endlessly assembled within the heavens, as preordained as his very existence.

"Damn it," he sighed in sudden exasperation, catching Mipha's face as she turned to watch him curiously, "That bird got my mind all caught up on stories and stuff."

Mipha's lips curled into a grin, "Is that a bad thing?"

"When you've heard 'em all a thousand times," Link explained as troublesome as it was to him, pushing himself back up into a seated position, "Seriously, when you're out on patrol, _these_ _days_, how much time can honestly be spent doing much else?"

"Not much, I'd imagine," Mipha answered with a smile, only allowed to do so as Link was looking away.

She so enjoyed seeing him in any sort of reverie, even if it was him being riled up as he was now. He was so emotionless at times, she knew; it meant a great deal to her that he was able to express himself in any such way in only her presence.

"Perhaps I could alleviate your troubles with a story of my own," Mipha offered, bowing her head as she earned Link's stare while clearing her throat, "Once, our people lived within a mountain, right? Thousands of years ago- _so_ long ago, the world had shifted into such a foreign-looking land compared to this one- Hylia hadn't even allowed herself to become known to the people of Hyrule. So lost were my people at the time, we found a fish far larger than the others, finding it to be seen as a tremendous sign from the heavens above! The Zora people of the time immediately filled that fish with food aplenty, treating him as though he were a messenger of a heavenly deity! So massive, he grew, until he swam up to be fed one day and WHAMO! got stuck on the shallow earth just beside our home at the time!"

The story obviously amusing her, Mipha covered her mouth once again to remain cautious of the others, "It's said they even crafted an alter before him, as they were unable to push him back into the waters! That's just wild, isn't it?! A fish god?!"

Her smile immediately faded as she noticed Link's own laughter, the Hylian having buried his face into the crick of his arm, leading to a distressed exclaimation from Mipha, "H-Hey!"

"Sorry," Link managed with a humored start, "It's just- I mean, it's pretty silly, don't you think?"

Mipha pouted her lips critically, "You're happy that Lord Wabbu-Wabbu isn't here to-"

"Pfft!" Link instantly hid his face once again for the others' sake, earning the ire of Mipha's droll stare, "We might be better off sticking to the ones in your book, at least while the others are sleeping. You wanna read us one?"

At that, Mipha's eyes went wide, her rueful expression immediately warping into one of intense embarrassment as she instantly yanked her head away, "N-N-No! I-I wouldn't w-want to mess it up!"

"Mess up a- You okay?" Link wondered curiously, "I've never seen a Zora's fins shiver like th-"

"H-Hey!" she demanded, "Q-Quit staring!"

Link couldn't help but grin at her rampant nervousness, obeying her demand as he surrendered his attention from her, doing his best to keep his amused chuckling to himself. For her own part, Mipha's nerves certainly were aquiver at such a request, her mind swirling uncertainly as she weighed her next words, certainly now that Link had dropped the issue, and conversation. Her heart tugged for a moment. He had exposed _himself_, somewhat; might she need to reciprocate the thought.

Her eyes fluttered sidelong, watching Link adjusting his position before leaning back, clutching the dirt behind him as he stared up into the stars, perhaps thinking of those same old tales he'd been thinking of earlier. His mind was off in another world, Mipha could tell, a whimpering glimmer in her heart pressing her to bring his mind back unto her.

"I-" she stammered weakly, turning Link's eyes back onto her curiously, "I, uh- I can't…read Hylian."

Link's face remained unchanged amidst the ashamed blush that overtook Mipha's own expression, his eyes narrowing knowingly as he replied kindly, "That explains your love of our _picture_ books, then."

"Yes…" Mipha admitted weakly, "It's not something- For somebody expected to be so regal, or at the very least, an ambassador of sorts, I- it's a bit embarrassing."

Link's face spun, "Wait, so when Revali asked you to read Zelda's map-?"

Mipha felt her stomach churn nervously as she recalled that moment, quickly burying her face in her arms as she answered, "I- I made that name up, yes... Zelda must have thought I was such a fool…"

"No…" Link answered with a soft sort of grin, "She played along all the same, probably to save you the embarrassment, which, on that front, sorry for insisting."

"N-No, you're fine!" Mipha assured hurriedly, breaking her face away from her hands and darting her worried eyes toward the Hylian, as though Link apologizing only for her sake was somewhat offensive, "I- It was bound to come up at some point."

Link shrugged, betraying his smile as he worked his way up to his feet, "Still, I'm sorry. If you'd like, in penance, I'd be happy to teach you."

"Wha- Wha- Wha-," Mipha sounded in the fashion of a repeating record, "N- N- No, I wouldn't dare be such a burden to any-"

"It's no burden," Link shrugged, "I write in my journal almost daily, or at least, I did. It's second nature to me by now. My mother figured I should be literate if I were to become as great a knight as she and my father."

Mipha continued to resist behind a nervous voice, "I- W- I-"

Merely chuckling all the same, Link carefully fell to sit beside her, forcing a furious rushing of blood to course throughout the Zora's body at the thought of being so close to this man. This man whose spirit had captivated her so long ago. This man who, as if fate had willed it, grown as such only after she had begged for him to return to her home as a man taller than she. Before she could catch up to the moment, her mind having grown rather fried, she snapped awake as Link pulled the picture book gently away from her, resting one half along his own leg so that its rested, shared, between the two of them.

"Do you mind if I write in your book? I haven't my journal on me," Link asked sincerely, receiving only a short and quick nod from the Zora.

He grinned at how proper she appeared to be, pulling a pencil from his pocket and drawing a Hylian symbol, Mipha's attention and focus gradually enough catching on, "It's just a syllabary; nothing too complicated, especially since you're already able to speak it. It's just a matter of associating sounds to characters, I suppose."

Writing rather delicately in what might as well have simply been scrawl to Mipha, Link constructed a few symbols and pointed them out attentively, "Z, O, R, A. Zora, see?"

"I- I really don't," Mipha admitted.

Grinning, Link affirmed, "No worries; I won't ask you to write a book or anything. I'll leave something like a list of all the symbols and- Sorry, I know nothing of your Zora script, or I'd translate it for you, but hey, this is how I learned."

"With a burgeoning mind," Mipha curled her lips distastefully, "I'm quite older than you, you know."

"Then you know of determination," Link confirmed with a smirk, "Trust me, you'll get it. You just have to- There."

He brought his finger up as Mipha's eyes narrowed expectantly, his lone finger sliding along the page, "M, I, P, H, A. There's your name in Hylian. And there…is… D, A, R, U, K- Daruk. There's Zelda's, Urbosa's, the bird's. You've got your whole Company on here. Might be a good start."

Link readied his pencil to be returned to his pocket while Mipha's face fell sadly, a silent, lost feeling crossing her lips as she bit at them, nervously, "Uh- What about… your name..?"

"Mine?" Link laughed, "Sorry, my Lady, but I serve Princess Zelda only in the most cursory of instances. I'm not fit for this Company- you've no need for one so set into the life of a knight and nothing more."

Mipha's eyes darted away in aversion, "I mean… I do need practice, don't I?"

Chuckling, Link pulled his pencil to the fore once again, "Alright, if you truly require it. There. L, I, N, K. The only thing binding, linking together two great knights of Hyrule Kingdom."

Mipha watched him sadly as he finished returning his writing utensil to his pocket, his indifferent mood seeming to betray his words. They were so hollow, those words.

"You make your name sound like something so dreary," Mipha acknowledged softly.

Link tilted his head while shrugging, "I mean, I wouldn't call it 'dreary', I just- I was the product of a loveless matrimony. My parents, two people merely occupying the same space, and only occupying that same space between them that allowed my existence. I suppose it's odd to not have those 'family' stories, but- they both loved me. I don't begrudge them for that."

He smiled loosely, almost as if in longing, "The best thing they gave me was my fate. I know my place in this world; that's more than so many others can say."

Mipha dipped her head lowly, her heart filled with dread at this Hylian's words that sounded so empty within his emotionless candor. She turned away in thought, mulling over his words, only sparking her interest once Link began sliding the book away from her leg and fully onto his lap, her head following while he pointed to the script that already lay upon the pages there.

"See, like this story here. 'The Sword of Evil's Bane'," he quoted with a hefty voice that caught a quick smirk upon Mipha's face, "In Hyrule Castle, smack in the middle of the sanctum, there rests a sword that has remained there since as long as anybody can remember. It just lays there atop an altar, waiting for somebody to take it, but- Nobody can. If it doesn't scorch your skin, or if you're of the seedy sort, your insides begin to whirr about restlessly as you approach. I've watched it work with my own eyes."

"They say it was placed there by an ancient hero, who left it there before his passing, to remain until it's reclaimed once again by one so destined," Link continued, his voice taking on an amused air, "I'm no hero. I'm a mere knight. You know how many restless nights I've spent with wonder as to whether that blade's for me? Not a one. But everybody in my old barracks, at one point or another, racked their brains for weeks, only to be disappointed in the end."

He shrugged, "I'm a knight, and always will be. I haven't the luxury of expecting anything more than that."

Mipha's lips curled inward uncertainly before speaking, "But what about hopes? Haven't you any dreams or aspirations?"

"Nothing beyond being the best knight I can be," Link grinning, silently voicing a laugh behind clenched lips, "Which, at this moment, means I want nothing more than to do my best when it comes to protecting my Princess."

Those words sent a jolt through Mipha's body. How close he was to invoking her own visage within his mind with such a word.

"Look, why don't you go on and get your rest," Link nodded dutifully, "I'll fill out that script for you. It'll be there when you wake up, alright?"

Again, such innocent words that sent such illicit thoughts through Mipha's mind, dissipating only as she gave a disheartened, "Okay…"

She rose to her feet, smiling lightly down at the Hylian, who replied with a more stiff version of his own smile, leaving Mipha to speak up, "Thank you for…not laughing. At least not _at_ me."

Link grinned, "I'd be far too afraid for my life were I to do such a thing."

Mipha presented her own sort of smirk as she lowered her head, her eyes just hidden beneath her frontal cleft, allowing her a stealthy glance toward the man before her. He didn't seem to mind as he prepared for his turn at the campfire's vigil, preparing his posture and grasping for his sword so that it might be handy, Mipha's lips curling with a sincere, heartfelt pang to her chest, this dutiful man doing all he could to keep her safe- well, the entire Company, but… just maybe.

"Goodnight," she muttered quietly, waiting for Link's eyes to meet hers, though they failed to do so amidst his organizing.

Still, he did offer much the same, "Goodnight. Don't let the Wabbu-Wabbu's b-"

"Oh, hush," she challenged with an amused giggle, playfully kicking at Link's side, only for him to recoil dramatically, such a childish demonstration from the man proving to be rather hopeful in Mipha's eyes.

And so she strode away, back toward her blanketed futon. While on the surface, she felt a certain lonesomeness walking along the cold earth at her feet alone, she soon began to recollect how warm Link seemed to be around her, a far cry from his interactions with Revali, at the very least, and quite a sudden change from how he seemed the last she had seen him. He had always seemed personable, and yet- He seemed so much as though there was a disconnect between him and others.

For a fleeting moment, Mipha felt, so wholeheartedly, there had been something there. Even something so imperceptible and crazy that she might have been the only one to feel it.

But it had been there.


	8. Impromptu Stable Fight Club

"Outskirt Stable," Mipha nodded to herself with a whisper, repeating the words that Zelda was speaking as the Zora woman held the map close to her face, studying the Hylian characters that appeared to signify those two words.

"All stables are more than welcoming to all people of Hyrule, if only because merchants know little else when it comes to who brings them rupees," Zelda smiled, turning her head over her shoulder to catch Daruk's expectant face, "They're also pretty famous for their home cooking."

Daruk's rocky expression rode roughly along his face, unimpressed, "You don't say…"

With a further enticing tone, Zelda continued, "And those two traits often coalesce, meaning there's often more than enough porridge to go around."

Turning his head away with a shrug, Daruk frowned indifferently, leaving Link to mutter unceremoniously, "It's not like you to not be interested in food."

"Pshaw!" Daruk scoffed, "I have other interests, you know!"

Urbosa's lips crept up mischeviously, "Name _one_."

"W-Well…" Daruk nervously offered, suddenly realizing himself being corralled, though as if in triumph, he threw his hand up, "I like grinding up rocks! Stick a pile of stone and I'll have it fine-ground and ready for-!"

He paused, his eyes growing wide in terror as Link snickered his reply, "Isn't that so you can eat it?"

"You know what, I don't have to justify myself even to a sworn brother!" Daruk assured, crossing his arms, "I'll just hang back here."

Zelda turned her head over her shoulder worriedly, "But- Who's justifying anything?"

Daruk remained stoic in his resistance, just avoiding stumbling along as he held his head up, leaving Zelda to direct her worry to Link, who simply shrugged, "I don't know."

"Sorry," Zelda apologized, "I was just trying to get you all excited for the stables… They're the best things about journeying across the lands."

Revali proclaimed excitedly, "I, for one, am thrilled! I'd turned my beak down to them my entire life- I mean, how could such prominence be upon the earth? Had I known about their wily ways, what with their regular clubs of fisticuffs, I'd have attended much sooner!"

Zelda bit her lip, having exaggerated somewhat earlier, though this was known only by Link, who gave her a suspicious glance as she returned, "Y-Yes! I'm certain Outskirt Stable will, uh, be having one of their gauntlets if we're lucky."

"Bwah ha!" Revali shouted happily, "The sight of seeing such inferior beings beating one another into the frigid earth below to assert some unrequited dominance fills me with glee! Haven't they a clue that we Rito demonstrate our dominance over the very sky?!"

Mipha quietly spoke up, "I don't believe they think that far ahead."

Chuckling with his hands atop his hips, Revali proudly asserted further, "Truly, it makes my plumage puff with elation!"

Lowering her head to hide her teeth, gritted with worry, Zelda simply focused on the path to the stable while Urbosa took the initiative to advance the conversation, "I do believe there is a nearby lake, as well. Mipha, are you in need of water? Forgive me for not knowing just how essential it is, or isn't, to your people."

Mipha smiled with a friendly warmth, "It's no problem at all. As far as I know, it's comparable to the sunlight and Hylians. It's not absolutely as essential as breathing, but if they were to long enough without sunlight, there might very well be deficiencies. Different Zoras require it more than others, as well."

Digging her hand into her waist-hanging pouch, Mipha pulled out a small jar of some viscous-looking liquid, "Plus, I can put this on and it helps my scales endure the open air better."

Urbosa graciously accepted the jar to examine it, with Revali catching sight of it with a disgusted tone, "Ew!"

The Gerudo shot him an unamused stare before turning the jar in her hands, "Huh. Certainly looks intriguing."

Nodding proudly as she took back the jar, Mipha smiled, "This gekari gel is extracted only from the finest octorok globules. It's rare for a human to have the experience to craft some themselves."

Revali still in mid-dry heave, he gasped in horror, "An octorok's _what_?!"

Noticing nothing out of the ordinary, Mipha simply went on, "Well, first our artisans travel to-"

"Even among my people, the Rito would rather share our own oils to preen one another with!" Revali proclaimed, "We would never look to another species to-"

"Oookay," Urbosa interrupted as she pulled a hand across her face with exasperation, "Zelda, how close are we? I'm going to need a break…"

Zelda pointed along the road, "We just crossed Manhala Bridge, so it should be just beyond that ridge down there."

"Truth be told," Urbosa admitted with a nervous smile, "I, too, am interested in these fighting clubs you mentioned."

Her shoulders just visibly trembling, Zelda grumbled mournfully to herself, pressing on as Link slowed, now that their destination was just within reach, allowing himself to fall to Daruk's side, grabbing his arm to tug at his attention. Despite his foul mood, the Goron couldn't help but respond, albeit with a forcible frown, at his sworn brother's grasp.

"…yes?" he replied with an echoing voice, as if he were being forced to speak.

Link shrugged, "You okay? You're just not yourself, right now."

"Pfft, not myself," Daruk replied sarcastically, raising his arms, "I'm always like this!"

The Hylian's brow rose suspiciously, "Like you're not at all hungry? Daruk, I once watched you pound an igneous stone instead of simply moving it out of your way."

"I'm _fine_," Daruk rebutted with an irritated tone, "Let's just get this over with and progress with our journey. I'll be much happier knowing our adventure's progressing rather than stalling."

Link frowned unhappily, still knowing his friend was lost in some emotion unknown to him, though before he could further press the issue, Zelda's voice took over, catching the whole Company's attention, "Alright, this will be our final stop before we begin toward Gerudo Desert. Now's the time to prepare accordingly."

"She is correct," Urbosa nodded, "After this, the next merchant hub is the Kara Kara Bazaar within the desert itself, so get your gekari gel while you can."

"Disgusting!" Revali retorted, having already subconsciously begun to preen his arm feathers, his eyes bolting up angrily to stare at the Gerudo woman.

Urbosa only grinned dismissively, growing to take a liking to the Rito's outbursts of disgust toward the rest of the Company's vile ways.

* * *

"Weeew hewwo!" came the exuberant voice of the stable's proprietor, a scrawny-looking elderly man hunched over with age, skittering across the dirt to greet the Company, "Weww I say, we d'nt awften have such'n ecwectic bunch a' visitorws!"

Zelda smiled politely, bowing as she replied, "Yes, sir. We're just traveling along together as a company, heading toward the desert."

"Ahhh, th' desewrt!" he exclaimed happily, "We gettin' th' many visitorws comin' through dat way!"

He turned a crooked eye toward Link, half-shrugging and waving him along, "We get th' mainy, mainy Hywians lookin' fer the Gewudo skivvies!"

Link's brow immediately curled incredulously as the old man cackled heavily, his delicate frame seeming to barely be keeping him upright, "Bwah haw haw! A funny buwnch! Come, come; put youwr feets up! Welcowme, welcowme!"

Unmoved, still severely confused by the insinuation, Link simply turned to find Zelda also in a daze, though she was quicker to find herself once the man strode back toward the stable, sighing lightly as she began, "Okay, we all know that was weird."

"Weird?" Urbosa spoke up, "How do you think _I_ feel?"

Grumbling again, Zelda dropped her head into an open palm, "Look, just- We'll rest and gather whatever we need. By the divine right of Hyrulian royalty, money is no object here, so gather whatever you require."

Daruk's shoulders managed to perk up until Zelda clarified, "Emphasis on _require_."

The Goron returned to his dismissive state.

"And Urbosa, maybe keep away from the desk in there," Zelda groaned.

The Gerudo grabbed hold of her shoulder, rolling her arm in a circular motion, "I can't hit an old man, but any of these younger fools with ideas, I haven't a problem striking them down."

The Company turned to notice the through-traffic that had come to Outskirt Stable. It wasn't packed busy, however, there were quite a bit of buggies and carts, people roaming the countryside in search of deals or exploration, maybe for a place in the world. Zelda's brow turned in sorrow at that final thought, recalling that she'd enjoyed the stables from a child for that very purpose. So trapped was she in her studies- how often had she wished to find her own place in this world.

She bolted to attention as she noticed Urbosa heading off with Mipha, the Gerudo leading the two of them toward the cliffside lake that rested to the northeast, with Urbosa explaining, "You must show me how this gel works. Does it work on skin? Y'know, I'm constantly in the sun, and some of my ladies, they're deathly afraid of blemishes. Not me, of course."

Mipha shrugged, her voice too soft to be heard as they pressed on, leaving Revali to scamper of next, covering his chin with a curious hand as he scouted out for a gang of Hylians prepared to throw down. Zelda sighed, turning toward Link and Daruk with a weak shrug.

"Well, it's just us now, I suppose. Would you care to peruse whatever wares we can come across?"

She turned, knowing Link would follow regardless, though upon leaving the entrance to the stable, she failed to notice Daruk simply remaining still, remaining silent as the two strode away. He watched them carefully, his brow still turned in forceful resignation, though as his glare turned, examining the stable as a whole, his brow turned in worrisome apprehension, as if he desperately wanted to be anywhere else.

* * *

Daruk had taken to sitting there on the edge of the stable, his eyes glued to whomever in his Company entered into view for as long as they remained within sight until they made their way back behind, or within, the stable. Arms still crossed, he noticed Link come into view, his face turning in curiosity as he hadn't Zelda at his side, though he quickly returned to his air of indifference once Link began to approach, the Goron turning away dismissively.

Link, with two bowl of porridge in his hand, made his way up to the Goron, his own face remaining tenacious as he balanced the soup, eventually coming to Daruk's side before sitting next to him, offering up the second bowl.

"It's good," Link goaded, though Daruk had none of it.

The Goron shrugged, "I'm busy."

"Busy with what?" Link challenged with a sigh, sitting the extra bowl down so that he could eat, himself, "Y'know, I hate seeing you like this. Your jubilation usually serves those around you quite well. I mean, except Revali, but that bird wouldn't know a good attitude if one bit him on the ass."

"Where's the Princess?" Daruk wondered immediately.

Link lifted his shoulders as he replied, "Urbosa'n Mipha are with her. I asked them to bring you something, but she assured me that I'd have a better shot breaking your tumultuous streak."

A clue, Link noted as he took a steaming bite of porridge. Daruk was sitting over here concerned about Zelda, and perhaps, the rest of them? What was he worrying about? and more than that- what had _this_ man to worry about at all? Still, Link didn't want to push him, Daruk remaining one of the few people he legitimately enjoyed being around within the Company, so he remained quiet as he ate.

His eyes raised as he watched the ongoing traffic along the through road, Link finished chewing before speaking up, "A portion of my job as a knight is to come across these adventurer's stables and check in on them or keep watch if there are concerns among the workers. Apparently, back when the races didn't get along, these outskirts of Hyrule Kingdom remained vacant, so it was less troublesome for us. In a sense, I'm happy to see Hylians feeling free to explore the world, but- it certainly can be troublesome with the added workload. Just goes to show, prosperity has it's own challenges."

Daruk's brow flinched as he turned a stare down toward Link, "What are you trying to say?"

Link shrugged, lowering his face back toward his bowl for another bite, "Nothing. I'm just saying, if you're worried about the vagrants and travelers- it's as safe at these stables as it is in back in the Castle. You needn't worry."

His body tensing, Daruk asked, "You think I'm _worried_, is that it?"

Link turned his head indifferently, "No, but- You just seemed apprehensive is all. I think it would be unwise to assume that, given your size, you, or any Goron, would be devoid of worry."

Daruk's eyes turned, his expression gently beginning to turn at his sworn brother's words, recalling how much he genuinely respected how understanding this Hylian was. He remembered most of his contact with Hylians, especially at the beginning of the period of time Link had referenced- when Hylians first began expanding outward during this current era of goodwill amongst the people of Hyrule. Only three generations of royalty ago, Zelda's great grandfather had ruled with an iron fist, believing that the moniker, 'Kingdom of Hyrule', was a sign of divine right- that the kingdom was named for the world as a whole because Hylians were to conquer it all.

At the turn of the age, Hylians were left with both freedom to roam, as well as a generation's amount of superstition and intrigue in the Gorons- the gigantic rock-men that were as monstrous as they were powerful, leading to wayward Hylians charging up toward Death Mountain to take on and kill a Goron, with as much prestige as such a thing would bring. Stories of damsels being kidnapped by the rock-men were abundant, and while a Goron hadn't ever killed a Hylian, there was the occasional 'rolling' of such a belligerent Goron-hunter down the hill.

Recognizing how troublesome the post-war situation was, the Goron elders decided to retaliate, not with violence, but exposure, sending out merchants, ambassadors, hoping to alter the general perception of them across the entire land, not just Hyrule Kingdom. Soon enough, the desire to scurry off to kill a Goron, the fiercest of all warriors, began to wane, quite readily, once it was known they were not only fierce warriors, but rather friendly and gracious.

Archaic emotions remained, however, which Daruk thought about as Link finished his porridge, the scratching of his spoon along the course bowl bringing the Goron back from his reverie. At the time he'd met Link, he recalled how taken he was by the unafraid Hylian who didn't take his people at appearances. His elation only built higher when Link proved, not only for mere sport, that he could rumble with the best Gorons, but could even win against the younger ones. The Hylian had skin of iron and a will of brimstone, Daruk recalled, shattering his own opinion of Hylians.

Daruk's back crawled as his eyes bolted toward the stable at the uncomfortable feeling of being stared at, meeting the glares of a handful of Hylians who looked an unsightly bunch. He turned to Link, who seemed oblivious, returning to the gang of Hylians beginning to approach them. Uncertainly, Daruk's expression turned to one of concern as he shook Link's shoulder, much to the knight's surprise.

"Uh, Link, do we, uh-" Daruk stammered, his demeanor forcing Link to turn ahead to discover the source if his sudden apprehension.

"What, those idiots?" Link muttered, "There's only four of them. If they're gonna cause trouble we can take 'em down."

Daruk's brow raised in worry, "But- But Link, I-"

The gang crossed the road, leaving Daruk to hide his fright as best he could while the leader of the pack sniffled a gross loogie back into his nose, running a wrist across his face as he sized the Goron up, "One ugly lookin' rock ya got here."

Link shrugged, "You've got a pretty ugly rock face yourself. Must go with the rocks in your skull."

"Tch," the creep snickered, taking a moment to revel in the chorus of chuckles surrounding him, "Ya got nerve fer someone hangin' with a pet rock. C'mon."

Daruk's eyes went wide as the man squared up, as if taking on a fighting stance, hopping in place, "C'mon now! I'm th' strongest Hylian in the world! I'll knock ya face in!"

Taking his turn to chuckle, Link watched the man raising his dukes toward Daruk, noticing the tinge of alcohol in the air from his breath, "Your pebble of a brain is cashing in what your body can't withdraw, I hope you know."

"Hey, shut the fuck up!" the man cried, his cronies now with their eyes set on Link, "I've torn up windows with rocks bigger than this thing! C'mon! You too scared?"

Link worked his way to his feet, sighing, "Dude, look, we're just-"

Daruk gasped in terror as one of the thugs slammed a blimd-siding punch into Link's face, sending him to the ground as the others followed, pinning him down to allow the head honcho the freedom to battle Daruk on his own, leaving Link to struggle with a fierce voice, "GHH! Daruk! Beat their heads in!"

The Goron remained still, frozen in terror as the thug grew impatient, "Fackin' deadweight! Come on!"

Daruk worked his way onto shaky feet, "I- I dint want to hurt you, just-!"

"Pfft! Hurt me?" the dude cackled, "I've passed stones bigger than you! Now just-!"

He threw a massive punch right into Daruk's stomach, a mmessily gruesome **_CRUNCH_** tearing through the air as the confrontational atmosphere deteriorated in an instant. The thugs atop Link watched their leader in abject horror as he pulled his hand away from Daruk, his knuckles having burst, leaving his fingers a mangled mess, all while Daruk had turned his head away in fright, still shaking in terror.

"G- Gh-…" the thug muttered warily, finally releasing in an outburst, "GAAAAAAAH!"

He wrangled his hand and pulled in against his chest to ease it with compression as Link took his chance, making a well-placed kick into one of his assailant's faces, the lot of them frozen by their leader's bloodcurdling scream. The other two confused, Link quickly punched one before slamming a knee into the third, forcing himself to his feet as the gang began skittering away, each nursing a painful portion of their bodies as Link kicked the dirt at his feet, angrily spewing at them.

"Yeah, now you run! Fuckers," he snarled venomously before lowering his head with a sigh, reaching a gently hand to his face to prod at the painful spot around his eye, "It was dirty as shit, but it was a good punch nonetheless. Ow. Hopefully Revali got his kicks."

Daruk shivered, his voice stammering in kind, "L- Link, I'm so sorry, I-! I just-!"

"Link!" Zelda cried out, she, Urbosa, and Mipha charging up toward the two of them, skidding to a stop before them, "We heard a yell! What happened?!"

Link grumbled, shaking his head, "Nothing two sworn brothers can't handle. Some jerks decided to pick a fight."

Without a word, Mipha had quickly made her way past the other two women, her face contorted in unease at the bruise atop Link's face. She raised a hand, its scales beginning to glow with a yellow light that almost seemed to weep droplets of golden light to the ground as she reached up, gently pressing her open palm atop Link's eye. Familiar with such a thing, Link didn't bother showing any resistance, even as Zelda and Urbosa looked on in curiosity.

"Thanks, my lady," Link offered, forcing a grin to form on Mipha's face.

She hid a giggle, "Reminds me of when you got into sparing matches as a child in our halls."

"At least I've never come across a dishonorable Zora. Freak took a swing out of nowhere," Link complained, gesturing toward Daruk, "He's the real hero. Took a swing that did more damage to the guy than him."

Mipha turned warily toward Daruk mid-healing compress, "Do you require healing as well?!"

As though taken off guard by such a question, Daruk quickly shook his head, "N- No, I'm fine."

Mipha smiled, "Might be for the best. I wouldn't know where to start "

"I believe the best remedy for a Goron," Zelda began in earnest, "Is just to massage some coarse earth on the wound until it solidifies back into place."

Urbosa's lips spun in distaste, "Maybe that old dude was just wanting to perform medicine on me."

Zelda eyed her at the poorly constructed joke, leaving Mipha to finish up her healing with a soft voice, "Your bruise should leave with ease, but your skin will remained blemished until it naturally progresses. There should be know pain, though."

Unable to nod with the cold skin of her hand still pressed into his face, Link simply replied, "You have my sincerest thanks, Lady Mipha."

The Zora smiled with mild elation at being of use, wholly noticing of her lingering touch, too enraptured by the warmth being taken in my her skin along Link's face, only coming to the realization as Link's open eye slowly turned toward her hand, forcing her to recoil in shame.

"S-! S-! Sorry!" she cried, holding her hand against her chest.

Link only smiled lightly, "It's fine. I don't feel any pain; after that, you could do anything to me and I wouldn't have grounds to complain."

At such words, Mipha was quite happy that she was unable to blush.

Zelda sighed, "Alright you two, we're going to finish up and head out within the hour, so you two be prepared as well. Urbosa, did you get those frog eyes we purchased? I don't want to be getting swindled…"

Her mentor grinned, knowing Zelda to be self-conscious of most of her interactions out in the world, directing her back toward the stable, "Dear, even if they're still back there, it's not as though we forfeit the purchase simply by walking away for a moment."

"I- knew that…" Zelda muttered quietly to save face.

Mipha followed as well, her head held low as her mind remained awash with possibilities after Link's words had overpowered any sort of rationality she might have possessed. This left Link and Daruk alone, the Hylian taking stock of their situation and grumbling under his breath upon noticing Daruk's overturned cup of porridge.

"Aw, man," Link frowned, "Sorry about that."

Daruk launched his head to the side, staring at Link incredulously, "_You're_ sorry?! Link, I couldn't be more sorrowful of my inaction! I'm so sorry, brother! I- I just-…"

Link shrugged, revealing a boyish smile, "No harm done. Literally. I know you've got stuff going on, so- I mean, we're sworn brothers, right? I've got your back, regardless. If I'd died, that might have been a different story, but short of that."

"Gah!" Daruk cried out in anguish, "I dare not wish to imagine such a fate! Link, I- I'm so sorry."

The Goron dropped his head as he fell backward, sitting there with a downtrodden expression, earning both Link's interest and his repentance, as he began with a grumbling tone, "I was just…scared, I guess. I- You know I'm a Goron champion, but such things come as a result of me crashing into other Gorons, people who wouldn't crack no matter how hard I tried. When I see a Hylian, or- any smaller being, really, I- I don't know. I get so terrified that I may end up accidentally doing something I might regret. something I cannot turn back from…"

"Foothill Stable, just beneath Death Mountain- it often had plenty of Hylians looking to pick fights, so when I see a place like this, I just- You're different- I can wrestle you and not have a care 'cause I know you'll persevere, but-" Daruk mournfully recounted, "The worst are creatures that seem to actively seek out my tremendously lethal grip or grasp. I see a barking dog running up to me, unafraid- those are the absolute worst…"

Link smirked, "I think they're just trying to say hello."

"I know! and that's the worst!" Daruk mused dramatically, throwing his open hands against either side of his head, "Haven't they a single clue that such a thing might be death if I'm not careful enough?!"

Lowering his head to hide a sincere smile, Link easily replied, "Look, I don't think you have anything to worry about. You wouldn't hurt anything. Remember that butterfly that landed upon your arm as we descended Satori? That's a creature as well, right?"

Daruk managed a smile, thinking of the multi-colored animal that had spent a few moments atop his rocky skin, "Y-Yeah, I suppose so. I guess it just goes back to when we Gorons were all so solitary, I mean- I spent a many great centuries not having encountered another people outside of lava lizards."

"Well, now might be the time to do so," Link smiled, "You've tremendous power in your arms. Half of having that much power is knowing how to _not_ use it at times, you know. You might not have needed to practice that up in Death Mountain, which is more like a Goron playground than anything-"

Daruk chuckled at the thought.

"-but as long as we're out doing all this- You know I have my reservations, but I've been thinking. Even if this entire quest is nothing more than a crock of whatever- If we all can improve ourselves, I suppose even if it ends with nothing, it'll still have been worth the time."

The Goron smiled at the thought, "I suppose for one so skeptical as you, that might be a good way of looking at it. What about you? What have you to improve upon during this journey?"

"Me?" Link asked with a wry grin, "I can wrestle a Goron to the ground _and_ snuggle with a dog- I'm already golden."

Daruk let loose a boisterous, rousing laugh that seemed to shake the earth beneath the two of them, clutching his chest as his hearty laughs overtook his breaths. For Link's part, he lowered his head with a softening smile, wondering about Daruk's question more deeply than he'd originally given it credence. Mipha was learning to read Hylian, Daruk might be learning to better manage both his fear and power- Revali had _better_ learn some manners. But what about himself?

He kicked the dirt at his feet as he wondered silently, Daruk working his way back to his feet as he shook his head, "The time for sorrow has ended, brother. What's say we get some porridge before leaving? I do believe Zelda mentioned taking all that we could?"

"Uh, that might have been an exaggeration, but-" Link cautiously assured, the two men jumping as the sudden, shrill voice of Revali pierced the air like one of his arrows.

"I MISSED IT?!" they heard him cry out in abject horror.

Link shrugged, "Well, Zelda was also exaggerating about those fighting clubs, but I suppose for Revali's purposes, it came true. Maybe the same'll be true with the porridge."

Daruk slammed a fist against his chest in triumph, "Then let us imbibe while we can, brother! If we cannot, we will find a way to make it so!"

It was a sentiment that stuck with Link for a while after.


	9. Rumble in the Canyon

"We're getting there!" Revali shouted from the top of the canyon that snaked it's way toward Gerudo Desert, hopping off the craggy peak before gliding his way back down toward the group.

Urbosa sighed, "I told you… These canyons have been as much my home as the desert since I was a child."

Her lips turning unsafely, Zelda replied, "I think he just wanted to spread his wings."

"Or show off," Link presumed critically.

Zelda sighed, "I don't think you should, or need to, reduce everything he does to a proud streak."

As soon as she finished, Revali hit the ground, sliding to a stop before immediately poofing out his mantle in triumph, declaring, "How easy and quick this journey would be if it were only me, not bound to the ghastly earth as you all are!"

Link gave Zelda a droll glance, forcing her to turn away in defeat, shaking her head, "Thanks, Revali. Let's just get on through this pass and make it to the desert."

"Sooner we get there," Link concluded, "The sooner we get done, the sooner we can leave."

Urbosa eyed him crookedly, "I'll have you know, despite the sun and the heat, our hospitality is top notch, even when it comes to men. You may not be able to step foot in Gerudo Town, but the amenities within Kara Kara Bazaar are highly rated by all the tourist rankings."

She grinned, "If anything, this will give you and Revali a chance to bond over something."

"Excuse me?" "What?" came the simultaneous replies from both men.

Urbosa chuckled, raising her arms, "Well Daruk here hasn't the same prying eyes as you two; Gorons are more than welcome within our town. You two will be the odd ones out."

Revali clicked his teeth, "To think I would be interested in such lowly traits. That the sun burns your skin and has it tanned- such a revolting phenomenon! Why did the goddess not mold your people perfectly upon your conception?"

"Well, for a good few millennium, we _were_," Urbosa grinned, "It was our single males, our Hilarser, every thousand years, that oversaw these entire lands during its earliest history. Until evil coupled itself to the very thing that was this world's salvation for many centuries, the triforce of power built these mountains, dug these streams. For while tremendous power can certainly destroy, it can just as tremendously create."

She mused, "For so long, no other race was capable of such power, so the triforce simply remained amongst our Hilarser until it began treading among the other races of Hyrule every now and then. But it never stayed away for long."

"I often liked to have thought I might have possessed it," Urbosa admitted in an uncharacteristically vulnerable moment, though it was cut short by Revali's scoffing.

"Pfft, these are nothing but stories told among the Gerudo- of course your people would cast themselves the heroes," Revali concluded with a biting tone, "We do the same- well, save for the fact we neglect to include fairy tales like triforces."

Urbosa smirked, "Fairy tales…"

"Yes," Revali nodded condescendingly, "Fairy tales. Nothing more than little stories told to comfort children at night, or to frighten them, if you're also going to mention that Ganondorf character."

Not wanting to further mince words, Urbosa simply lowered her head, hiding a grin as her mind remained steadfast in her convictions. Revali, for his part, ceased as well, muttering something under his breath before returning to silence, allowing the conversation to move elsewhere.

"W-Well, uh," Zelda began, "Fairy tale or not, it makes for interesting stories, definitely. I loved reading mythology and tales of old growing up- I'm familiar with most of the Gerudo ones, and some of the Zora ones as well. The Gorons, uh-"

Daruk chuckled, slamming a fist into his chest, "We etch our heroes into the rock of the mountain, carved forever in the earth's bitter language that surpasses mere generations!"

"We do the same in the knights," Link nodded, "Well, I don't, but a lot of our armor passes from generation to generation, so knights will carve out messages or stories to accompany the armor forever."

"Well, I am familiar with the ones that made their way into books," Zelda sighed, "That one about Nabooru, whom Vah Naboris was named, was one of my favorites."

"Ah, the answer of a true Gerudo!" Urbosa replied happily, "It's not so easy for a single name to outlive eons, yet the great Nabooru's does. She gave her life to ensure the whole of our race could continue, when the Hilarser at the time chose to give up his single dictate. Instead of continuing the race, he chose to use his power for his own means, leading the Gerudo toward extinction, or at the very least, the genetic equivalent of such. Nabooru would have none of it, however, choosing to sabotage the Hilarser's plans, forcing him to remain where he could prevent our people from dying out."

Zelda nodded, "The greater good over the individual. Quite an important lesson for anybody so gifted to have royal blood."

"Indeed," Urbosa agreed, her eyes narrowing alongside her softening tone, "It's a lesson near and dear to myself."

Suddenly pepping up, she nodded, hoping to rally the others, "In any case, more important than stories and histories, we have a Divine Beast to examine and understand."

Mipha turned toward Zelda, "Do we have a plan once we enter the desert?"

"We do!" Zelda explained excitedly, "First, we need to retrieve Urbosa's thunder helm, which will prevent us from being incinerated by the Beast's lightning."

Mipha's eyes began to sink at the thought of such a thing, though it was Revali who took to his tongue to voice his exasperation, "Pardon me, but what in the goddess' name are we up against?!"

"No worries," Urbosa smiled, "So long as you remain at my side, no harm will come to you. I wouldn't have planned to have a Zora along, especially, were I not entirely confident in that fact."

Mipha wiped the sweat that had formed along her brow, content with taking the Gerudo's word for it at this point, though Revali only distastefully grumbled to himself, far more unsure of the events to come. Zelda reclaimed the lead, hoping to reassure the Company.

"Obviously, men are not allowed into Gerudo Town, so Link and Revali will have to wait at the Bazaar while we carry on," Zelda went on, looking toward Link, "Certainly you can trust my protection to these three, correct?"

Link shrugged, "I suppose so."

Daruk playfully punched at Link's arm, catching his attention as he boisterously asserted, "Despite any of my misgivings, I can assure you, I wouldn't let my nerves come between me and her safety."

Biting his lip, Link corrected, "Actually, I'm more happy to send Zelda off in Urbosa's hands, but…"

Daruk's shoulder slumped defeatedly, forcing a mounful smile along Link's face while Zelda continued, "Actually, the Bazaar does have an oasis, should Mipha be more comfortable remaining behind as well."

Her head perking up, Mipha replied, "Uh, I mean, I suppose. I might need to see how my scales react to the desert, first. I would hate to abandon you."

"Trust me," Link murmured weakly, "Were it not for the ultimate goal of bringing our races together, and for diverse conversation, Zelda would have only needed Urbosa for this journey."

The Gerudo happily threw an arm around Link's neck, pulling him against her side with a "GAH!" as she rapidly shook her fisted hand across his scalp, "Daw, what a charmer you are!"

Link managed to push himself out from her grasp, frowning angrily as he massaged his head, "I'm charming nobody! It's mere respect; I know who powerful people are, and I do my best to maintain their respect while extending my own."

"Pshaw, then why have you not extended the same courtesy to me?" Revali exclaimed curiously, "Can you not see that I'm the brightest among this Company?"

Link shivered at the thought, "I have more respect for Daruk's boots. Perhaps if we were devoid of all light, you'd be the brightest."

The Rito frowned, already expecting such a reply, leaving him with a measly, "Luckily, I can at least admire the others in their understanding of this fact. I needn't even ask for confirmation- I already know their answers. That's the confidence of Witwa, that all Rito aspire to attain!"

Running his head along his shoulders in exasperation, Revali muttered aloud, "Such a pity, truly."

Link rolled his eyes, the sweltering heat swirling through the parched canyon already beginning to force him into lethargy, "I'm not even bothering anymore."

He visibly strode away from Revali, keeping his distance while the others resorted to uncomfortable silence, all of them both equally tired of Revali's attitude, but also disapproving of Link's oft-reactive ways. They had all silently decided to simply change the subject on these occasions, besides Urbosa perhaps, who might have preferred something of a kerfuffle to take place.

"So, uh," Mipha spoke up, unsure of the atmosphere surrounding her, "Vah Ruto is quite difficult to approach, much less enter. From what I know about Naboris…"

Urbosa nodded, "Ah, I get it. To be honest, I haven't exactly thought that through. I suppose, given our quest's purpose to understand, and ultimately pilot these Beasts, now would be as good of a time to figure it out."

"This is all rather exciting!" Daruk exclaimed, rubbing his hands together, "Our journey is seriously beginning!"

Zelda grinned at his elation, "Vah Naboris is camel-shaped, with four massively tall legs. We've considered waiting for it to pass by one of the surrounding mountains and hopping atop it."

"-but, it's track is wholly random and impossible to predict," Urbosa frowned, clutching her chin in thought, "That method could take years. We also thought of constructing something of a mobile ladder, but again, resources and time."

"Not to mention technology," Link reminded cooly.

"That, too," Zelda groaned.

Revali, who'd been withholding his voice with great difficulty up until this point, finally broke his silence, "I just-! Gah! The answer sits right in front of your faces!"

"We've already mentioned scaling the mountains and hopping on," Link replied sarcastically.

"You pitiful little-… You have at your access a master of the skies! A man a cut above all the rest! I'll just zip up there, unhindered by any subservience to the ground, or gravity itself, and take hold of that Beast like I would any creature of the wild!" Revali proclaimed with a boisterous tone layered over his frustration.

Urbosa frowned, "As we mentioned, Vah Naboris exudes an infinite electrical storm; one that only the thunder helm can quell."

"So? Just have _me_ wear it!" Revali answered as though it were the simplest answer.

"Are you insane?!" Urbosa retorted heatedly, "That helm has touched nothing but pure Gerudo blood since it was first cast-forged in the endless pits of Mount Agaat!"

With a pithy voice, Revali sneered, "T'would be atop one _truly_ worthy were it given to me to-"

Urbosa made a mad dash toward the Rito, just barely caught by Daruk and Link, both of whom had to unleash all of their might to not even stop the Gerudo woman, Urbosa still managing the faintest of steps against their defiance. She growled angrily at Revali, who replied only with sincere shock that his words had been taken as they had been.

"I cannot _believe_ such a plan- the _easiest_ one- is causing such a hubbub!" he shouted aloud in disbelief.

Urbosa shouted, "You take that back!"

"Pardon?" Revali retorted, "I speak only the truth! I don't understand-!"

"Revali!" Zelda finally shouted, catching his attention, "I don't care if you don't understand! Apologize, now!"

The Rito stared at the princess with a furtive gaze, jerking his head back dismissively with a frustrated sneer before weakly conceding, "Fine. My apologies."

"And you better fuckin' _mean_ it!" Urbosa challenged, her push finally beginning to loosen against the grips of a Goron and a knight, "Disparage my blood once more and I'll make sure your _ashes_ never leave the sky."

"Urbosa!" Zelda shouted, attempting desperately to diffuse the situation.

Revali gave a swift cackling, as though it were some Rito call meant to be disparaging, before returning, "Big talk for one of those women whose bodies are destined only for the beds of mongrels."

Urbosa lunged forward, breaking through Daruk's and Link's hold, just nearly clutching Revali with as tight of a grip as she could muster, the Rito darting up into the air, leaving only a single feather trailing toward the ground as his wings fluttered powerfully upward. Urbosa let loose a primal growl as she grit her teeth, staring up at the shadowed figure in the sky.

"URBOSA! REVALI!" Zelda shouted as powerfully as she could despite the conflict, though her words were unheeded by the two as Revali simply remained aloft.

His head shook between his flapping wings, "I must say, you're absolutely _terrifying_ when faced with the truth."

The Gerudo woman sneered up toward the haughty Rito, quickly directing her attention to the sandy wall that half-enclosed the Company, Link's eyes widening in realization as he shouted out, "Urbosa! DON'T-!"

Before he could leap toward her, Urbosa threw a fist directly into the wall, the sandstone chasm surrounding them immediately beginning to tremble beneath her might, as though an earthquake were reverberating across the canyon. Rito watched with confusion, only until the unmistakable sound of cracking, shattering rock blew past his ear, sending his eyes skyward to find a collection of stones descending right atop of him.

The copius amount of stone debris failed to discriminate, Urbosa's blast putting the Company in danger as well, though Daruk was quick to snatch up both Mipha and Zelda in his arms before dashing along through the canyon in a rush, Link right behind.

"Come on, now; come on!" the Goron rushed with a shaky voice as though trying to remain calm, "No danger, no danger!"

The cacophony of boulders came rumbling down, only to begin to die off as quickly as they'd come, leaving the others to worriedly return their attention to where Revali had been. To their surprise, as the thin layer of dust began to settle, they found Urbosa standing there, hand raised into the sky with Revali's chest feathers in her opposite hand, having grappled him as he descended to escape, and protected him from the collapsing shrapnel.

Despite that, Revali remained belligerent, even while in the hands of the woman who'd attempted to strangle him a moment earlier, his voice remaining stagnant in his resilience, "You-"

Urbosa frowned, "These are _my_ lands, and you _will_ show them respect. Understood?"

The Rito's face remained defiant, failing to answer long enough to earn another shout.

"Understood?!"

Revali's eyes fell backward in droll exasperation, sighing lightly before acquiescing, "Understood."

"Good," Urbosa finished, dropping Revali back to his feet, "_I'm_ a well-adjusted individual, so you can expect the same from me beneath the peaks of Hebra."

Revali scoffed, "We'll see."

Clapping her hands together to pat away the dirt that had collected there, Urbosa approached the Company, most of them lost in shock as she strode along without a care.

"Come now; we have quite a ways to go before nightfall. Next stop, Kara Kara Bazaar," Urbosa reminded with a nod.

"R-Right," Zelda noted quietly, her heart still quite a bit a way from settling down as the cloud of dust had, "Everybody?"

With Revali bringing up the rear of the pack, the Company moved on in uneasy advance, though with a breath of relief that it had ended as almost nonchalantly as it had. If nothing else, it served as a reminded not to cross Urbosa's path at any point within the future.

* * *

A/N: A friendly reminder to any Revali fans- everybody has a character arc, even him; just be patient xD


	10. The Gerudo's Aching Destiny

Nightfall in the desert made for a much milder climate, the twinkling stars above bringing cooler air, though not too frigid, making the nights far more peaceful than the day. Most creatures alike that called Gerudo Desert home often took the night to signal rest or at least a time to reflect, almost an air of tranquility swirling along the desert sands once the moon appeared.

The Company had decided to set up camp for the night just as they exited the canyon, deciding to take to the sands at the first break of dawn, arriving at the Bazaar before the sun's apex, a few of them more than happy to finally be able to make use of their blankets, which until now had merely been an encumbrance, to curl up and take to sleep quite readily after the day prior. While that full accruement of exhaustion added to the lethargy that came with the desert heat, it didn't seem to affect Zelda, who was unable to sleep, simply laying there wrapped in her blanket, staring up at the stars above, having even resorted to counting them aimlessly in an attempt to discover sleep.

Displeased with her failing attempts at rest, she turned onto her side, gingerly yanking her blanket up over her shoulder to protect against the breeze, a single outstretched finger brushing along the ground in front of her, her eyes following listlessly, drawing random shapes in the sandy rock face beneath her. Uncomfortably so, she slid her arm up to better rest her head, grumbling silently to herself, her eyes turning to find Revali and Daruk asleep, such a thing coming so much easier for them. Certainly she should have brought a pillow, herself.

Zelda sighed, the bitterness trailing along her warm breath as it sent the most minuscule amount of dust flowing into the air before dying down just as swiftly. Her ears suddenly perked at a gravelly sort of skidding sound, like dragging atop asphalt, just raising her head above her blanket to peek over her shoulder, not wanting to give her accidental eavesdropping away. To her confusion, everybody was where they had originally lay when they'd settled down for the night just off the road, Zelda's eyes peering with a strain through the darkness surrounding her, the moon hidden behind one side of the canyon's mighty sheer walls.

Slowly, and carefully, she pushed herself up, only barely at first, her suspicions getting the best of her, her brow turning curiously as she noticed Urbosa's place had become vacant in the night. She took a sharp breath, only for expecting the worst, before another sound took her by surprise, this one of the unfamiliar sort. Her ears strained to catch it once again, something like uneven breathing, shaking itself into higher volume. Zelda's lips curled sadly, slowly kicking her blanket away and pushing herself to her feet, looking around with uneven glances before steadily pacing herself toward the edge of the desert, carefully enough not to stray too far from the camp.

Just beyond the canyon, a craggy outcropping of rock lead up toward a small overhang clutching the wall of the canyon that faced the desert. Atop a small, unsteady-looking pathway, Zelda saw Urbosa, sitting there with her knees brought up to her chest, her arms clutching her knees with her eyes peering off into the distance with a scornful, yet primally melancholy, stare.

Zelda's brow curled at the sight. For a woman as brusque as she, her tears, trailing down her face, twinkling in the night sky like jewels, made her seem a celestial kind of beauty even behind her stony face, devoid of any form of vanity beyond what her strength offered her in the way of respect. Her tan skin took on a darkly demure sight beneath the starlight, but behind that outward beauty which seemed only to present itself here in this desert, Urbosa's eyes revealed a sincerely pining for something to take away the emotions coursing through her.

It only took Zelda one step further for Urbosa's head to immediately bury itself into her knees, hiding away her tears, though it visibly shook from side to side in rejection, "You know, you were never supposed to see me like this."

Sadly, Zelda bowed her head respectfully while her arm raised to allow her hand to stroke the opposing limb with a nervous gait, "I- Sorry. It's not like I'm going to ruin your cred or anything, for what it's worth."

Urbosa's shoulders trembled with a subtle laugh, raising her head to reveal two streaks of starlight running down her face as she eyed the Princess, "I'm more worried about your own perception of me than anybody else's."

"I mean-" Zelda began, pausing as she unsurely took stock of her next set of words, "I'm the first person to know that tears don't say much about a person."

The Gerudo woman gave a weak smile before sending her gaze back over the desert sands, "You're your mother's child, alright."

Silence enraptured the two, allowing Zelda to watch her feet as they carried her up the narrow slope, hoping to reach the minor incline that separated the two of them, catching herself with a hand as she slipped on a footing of loose gravel. Save for that instant, she easily made her way to the small bit of rock jammed into the mountain wall, sitting beside the Gerudo woman with a similar stance, trying to protect herself from the biting cold as she watched those same sands, as though trying to translate what this night-washed land was speaking to this woman she so respected and loved.

"He's right, you know," Urbosa muttered quietly, earning her a confused glance from Zelda, forcing her to elaborate, "Revali. He can be an ass about it, but- He often speaks the truth."

Zelda's heart tugged, "Urbosa, don't-"

"I knew it was, but-" Urbosa gave a weak grin, "Well, I suppose we all try to disguise the truth with our own lies from time to time."

Disheartened both by this powerful woman's sudden vulnerability, as well as her callous words, Zelda lowered her head sadly as Urbosa went on with a fragile tone, "Y'know, I respect Nabooru a great deal. When I first became Chieftain, oh man, I couldn't stop trying to emulate her. So much of her persona, in reality, has been lost to time, but- All those legends that had formed; how she stole the gloves that could strangle Evil itself, how she treaded the rivers of quicksand with such a skillful prance that the fountains of the earth below burst in frustration."

She smiled, perhaps imagining herself as a child, "I spent so many hours forcing my body to take on the powerful form you see now. I leapt from mesa to mesa, slamming into the ground countless times until I could make the chasmous jumps. I thought I could be just like her, an idol. that I may go down in Gerudo history as she's done, a pillar of our people."

Urbosa paused, her face gradually darkening into something resembling heartbreak, earning her an equally tumultuous look from Zelda, who reached out to rest her hand atop her shoulder, "You've done plenty to outlive time itself. Believe me, wholeheartedly, if it's only me, I will make sure your deeds live on, unto this generation's children, and their children, and-"

Her voice suddenly trembled to a pause, realizing what Urbosa had been getting on. Without reproach, Urbosa managed a weak grin to go alongside a quick, muted chuckle, lowering her eyes in reflection.

"We haven't had a Hilarser in many years," Urbosa explained quietly, a tugging entering her voice as she pressed on, "So long as that spirit of evil looms over Hyrule-"

She fought to keep her lips turned upward. She battled the tears that awoke with shaking eyes, with gritting teeth. She willed herself, as desperately as one could, to yank back these emotions that had so swelled in her heart, unable to retain a soft, whimpering cry as tears rolled down her face once again, her body falling to the side as Zelda quickly took to her knees to reach over and hug the woman around the neck, pulling her head against her in shared misery, battling her own tears, knowing Urbosa allotted no tears for herself, and would have hated others offering her any of their own.

"I think about it- Night and day," Urbosa managed through trembling, quietly wailing breaths, "Thinking about my people. How it's my duty to remain purely Gerudo while they go off to make sure I _have_ a future worth remaining pure for. Thinking about how my duty is nothing more than offering up my body to that _scourge_ of Hyrule."

She desperately sniffled as her voice broke, "I- I'm cursed."

Zelda tugged her tighter, "Urbosa, you're not cur-!"

"I am," Urbosa confirmed with a shattered tone lining her whimpering words, "My legacy won't be any children with a man I love- it'll be the offspring of _me_ and that single man so determined to bring this world to ruin, I- I have nothing to offer this world but continuing this cycle of hatred, unless my people d- d-"

She couldn't bring herself to invoke her people's extinction, so lost in her mind's endless corridors of despondency, having had to live knowing this her entire life. She knew she'd never be able to love, for who could love that which is purely evil? She knew that she would constantly live in fear for that night the Prince of Evil would finally assert his claim over her, if only to ensure his continued dominance through the next Hilarser. She knew that, for selling her femininity, selling her future children, selling anything resembling a normal life- yet, she could watch her sisters go off into the world, have their loves, their lives, their children. Even if it broke her heart to know she wouldn't ever partake- maybe it would be enough to know that she was doing as Nabooru did. Sacrificing herself for the good of her people. For the continuation of a people so cursed since the entry of demise into the world.

Softly, gradually, her aching heart began to tremble less, in gentle spurts now, as Zelda's quiet humming broke through to her in a daze. The Princess' voice was so beautiful, Urbosa thought; so calming it was to hear, nearly shedding her misery from its very hopeful tone. Another sniffle allowed Urbosa to speak up, suddenly catching the melody which Zelda was humming.

"That's-"

"It's your song," Zelda interrupted softly, "You would hum it to me when you came to visit, just when I was a little girl. I loved it so much- in the middle of the night, you'd sneak into my room and hum it to me until I fell asleep."

Urbosa gave a weak chuckle, so dichotomous to the tears still staining her skin, reaching up her free hand to wipe away the starlight tint sprawled down her cheeks, "You cried so much when it was bedtime and you had to stop listening."

Zelda smiled weakly, "I still remember the melody. Mom couldn't ever emulate it, but- When you left, I only had to sing it to myself."

She grinned more warmly, "I thought you were so cool, you know. Everybody in the castle was so reverent, but- You just kind of made the place your own. When she died, I- You held me so tight, and you hummed that tune until I stopped crying."

"I figured it might work the other way around, too," Zelda surmised, returning to a solemn expression.

Urbosa turned to watch the ground as Zelda relinquished her hug, muttering softly, "I'd nearly forgotten that song, myself. It was nice to hear."

A healthy silence arose as the two took in the air, allowing themselves a chance to recuperate from a moment earlier. Urbosa sighed, shaking her head reflectively as she thought of Zelda having to witness such a torrential wave of emotion from her; how bad of an example she was setting.

"Goddess, I'm sorry," she managed quietly, turning toward Zelda with a weakened smile, "Here you are on your first major quest, and instead of being a pillar of support, here I am wallowing."

Zelda grinned sincerely enough, "You've done plenty of supporting already. I never wanted you to bear any of my burden, you know."

"Well, it's difficult not to place myself in those shoes after all these years," Urbosa shivered with soft laughter, "Watching you grow up all these years. I can't help but think of myself in that light."

Urbosa's eyes fell toward the weak visage of Kara Kara Bazaar in the distance, spotting out the massive stone column that watched over the trading post. The desert had thrived as something of a commercial hub during her reign, offering her people riches and commodities. For all she had to feel sorry for, she knew that her people were the ones that mattered most.

"For what it's worth," Zelda spoke up lightly, earning a curious glance from Urbosa, "I, uh-…"

The Princess lowered her head as though in embarrassment, though her shaking voice quickly solidified, "You were always more than a Gerudo to me."

"You're more than just a woman to me, " Zelda admitted, her smile hidden from view, "You're a mother."

Urbosa's rigid face softened into a radiant smile at those words. She slowly reached an arm over, pulling Zelda into a gentle hug.

"That's worth everything, child. Even the endless grains of sand that line this desert," Urbosa concluded softly.

"You have a legacy beyond these evils," Zelda continued with a steady resolve, "I'll make sure of it."

Urbosa smiled, reaching up to pull Zelda's head against her in tender embrace, "You're much too good to a mere woman such as me."

"Well, you did teach me to find the best in people," Zelda admitted, fighting the childish urge to fight herself free from Urbosa's arms as she'd done while a child.

Urbosa chuckled, her powerful body vibrating against Zelda's without restraint, "I suppose I'll have to work on relearning that."

Her head began to shake in disbelief, "When did you take the role of teacher?"

Zelda giggled, "I must'a had a neat teacher myself."

Sighing, Urbosa held Zelda close, peering off into the distance as she rested her cheek atop the young woman's head as a smile stretched across her face, "By the goddess, you're so much like your mother."

Expecting something along the lines of a pithy reply, Urbosa turned her head down to examine Zelda's face, only to find her eyes closed, having easily found sleep within such familiar arms. It took Urbosa back to those days keeping watch over Zelda, the same event occurring even then, forcing a heartfelt smile upon the Gerudo's face.

"You're too good to me," Urbosa spoke softly in tender sincerity, smiling with demure veracity, "I suppose no daughter of my own could ever match you, anyway."

She chuckled slightly at the thought, returning her attention to the desert below while allowing Zelda to sleep. It had already been a tumultuous journey for Urbosa, and yet she'd never felt more in touch with the world beyond the snowfields and mesas of the Gerudo's massive peaks. Even if it meant facing the unpleasant perceptions of others, perhaps it was necessary to better appreciate all that she'd accomplished.

She had already come to relearn to so appreciate the young woman in her arms all the better. Why not more?


	11. Kara Kara Bazaar

Mipha frowned as she felt her skin begin to crinkle beneath the fierce sun, the sensation of warming blood initially having caused her great joy, though between the continued exposure, as well as the sun's reflection off the sand below, the intensity of the sun's light grew dramatically, leaving her with little choice but to beginning running her hand along her arms, massaging the gears gel in between her scales to better retain moisture. Unlike Hylians and the Gerudo, Zoras didn't sweat, leaving them in danger to begin with were they unable to regulate their constantly rising body heat, though the gel served to retain her body moisture while also acting as a sort of sunblock. Still, it left her rather displeased, the gelatinous ooze resting uncomfortably along her scales.

"How intriguing," Urbosa noticed, "And it's like a night and day difference?"

Mipha nodded dejectedly, "Yeah, I mean it does, just- Its texture just kind of leaves my skin unable to breathe, you know?"

"Hmm," Urbosa mused, "I've been interested in increasing Zora traffic down here, but like you said earlier, it's quite difficult. Perhaps if we branded our own gekari gel."

Daruk chortled happily, "Quite the entrepreneur, are we!"

Allowing a proud smirk, Urbosa explained, "Well, it would be of tremendous help. We're already largely limited to female merchants to begin with; if we could bolster Zoran traders, not only would both our cultures benefit from improved relations, but my people would absolutely adore a new assortment of trinkets and adornments from Zorana."

Zelda nodded in thought, "A practical idea, though executing it might be more difficult."

"Indeed," Mipha replied with a fierce look on her face, battling with the gel, "For one, gekari gel takes generations of talent to perfect. Even the Hylian concoctions make for inferior gels unless undertaken by true masters of the craft. It's quite intensive, and not something for mass production, I don't think."

Urbosa clutched her thin in thought, "Well, it's at least something to think about. A stable just before entering the desert would also work wonders as far as trade goes, but then there's the matter of traders even wanting to come here in the first place."

"Who wouldn't want to visit this place?!" Daruk exclaimed in shock, "I haven't felt so welcomed by such extrathermal heat in all my life! I'm used to the earth itself providing immense heat and power; the sun is quite different, but still intense upon these sands!"

Urbosa sighed meekly, "Well, not everybody shares that enthusiasm. And even if they might, they would also have reservations about the prying eyes of potential cretins. Plenty of men wander around these parts, simply begging for glimpses of our town, as though it's inhabited by angelic beings or something. I've heard enough false stories about our town that make their way around the land, piquing the interests of many."

Her lips curled distasteful, "We've even had instances in the past of female travelers getting harassed by some boorish rouges. I've tried stationing soldiers along the route, but- The whole thing; it's disheartening for me, and discouraging for potential travelers."

"Bah, the nerve," Daruk frowned, crossing his arms, "You should hire a pack of Gorons! With all due respect to my sworn brother, Gorons are truly the masters of protection!"

Link shrugged weakly, his brow furrowed with confusion as to what was being insinuated.

"We can roll along these dunes like nothing!" he declared, looking around while raising a hand to cover his mouth, clearing his throat, "May I?"

Urbosa shrugged, "Why not?"

The Goron charged a marvelous smirk before raising his arms, the stretching motion causing a small collection of pebbles to fall from his shoulders, his voice proudly proclaiming, "Allow me my sale's pitch! Ahem."

He made a dramatic pose, yanking a top hat from the nether and slamming it atop his head before pointing at Urbosa, "YOU have a problem! WE have solutions!"

Throwing a hand to the ground before it flew back with a jolt in recoil, a thin cane materializing from his grasp and digging itself dramatically into the sand below, "Goron Consulting, eye-in-tee-el! We've got the brawn to make up for brains!"

Revali dropped his face into an open palm, grimacing painfully amidst a groan. The others hadn't a clue, themselves, what was going on, but armed with such massive gusto, Urbosa was increasingly intrigued by the Goron's proposition…whatever that might turn out to be. Her eyes narrowed, even with Daruk dancing in place like a mad man, throwing theatrics every which way until finally burrowing into the ground as he rolled into a ball, much to Mipha's astonishment, as well as Revali's sudden intrigue, mostly due to the foreign nature of this act.

"Wow!" Zelda cried out excitedly.

A rumble left the rocky ball, as though it took Daruk a great deal of effort to speak in such a form, "Buuut wait, theeeere's more! We Gorooons tread across all terrrrrain at toooop speed, with eeeease!"

Revali's lips crinkled in awaiting suspense, finally resorting to goading the stone man, "Well, of with it! Course along these sands like a dervish, or do not!"

"Haaaang ooooon," Daruk groaned loudly as his body began to whirr atop the sand.

Another burst of painful grumbling left him, clearly having lost his use for this form for quite some time, allowing his rocky joints to churn awake. He spun quicker, careful to turn himself so as to encircle his adoring crowd, rather than speed off unto the ends of the desert; his body began to heat up with friction, his heart raced. A gasp of air left him once his body fell into its top speed in rhythmic fashion, his Goron heart forcing his body to work in overtime as a rush blew through his head from the excitement.

"BWAH HA HA!" he laughed a boisterous laugh, the speed allowing his body to expand in centrifugal fury, his speech returning as a result, "ARE YOU NOT TAKEN INTO SEVERE ASTONISHMENT?!"

Zelda bit her lip at the sight before them, careful not to say a word as she lowered her head, though still keeping her woeful eyes latched solely on the spinning Goron. Link sighed, dropping his head while Urbosa frowned in disappointment, though unable to hide the soft upturn at the edge of her lip, amusement creeping in. Mipha looked on, her excitement having turned into embarrassment, turning in surprise toward Revali as the Rito threw his arms out in disgust.

"Bah! This…_PARLOR_ trick is wearing immensely thin!" he shouted with great dismay.

Link shrugged, "He's probably making better time than you in a windstorm."

Revali turned away in disgust, shaking his head in disappointment, mostly in himself for having allowed his attention to stay upon the Goron for any distinct length of time. The others looked on in gradual, disheartened dread, even as Daruk went on with his boisterous showboating.

"MAXIMUM OVERDRIVE!" he shouted, only causing his speed and trajectory to increase further.

Despite his intense focus, the Goron hadn't pressed onward an inch. As soon as he'd gone into his curled metamorphosis, his large frame had immediately sunk into the sand below, leaving his ever-increasing speed to be for naught, as well as his arching trajectory, which only caused him to spin in circles while stuck in that spot. As he entered maximum overdrive, however, a spewing of sand went spitting out from behind him, which combined with his spinning, leaving the Company wholly awash with sand, a chorus of unamused faces left there for Daruk as he slowed to a stop, hurrying back to his feet and reaching his arms out in triumph.

"TA DAA-! Hey, what happened to you all?!"

Zelda reached up weakly, rubbing the sand from her face before speaking gentle, "Uh, Daruk, I- I don't- I think you didn't-"

"PAH!" Revali spat out the sand from beneath his beak, "I MUST say, Goron, this vitriolic undertaking of yours has done NOTHING but mislay an intensely puerile impetus!"

Daruk watched him with confusion, "…was the pitch _that_ good?"

"No! You irritating- GAH!" Revali shouted painfully, his hands hurriedly stroking his feathers, "This stuff is-! How can you _live_ like this?!"

Urbosa smirked, "Elephants bathe in the stuff."

"Oh! Perfect!" Revali spewed sarcastically, "Let's just take billions of years of eroding rock, corpses, and goddess knows WHAT else- and DUMP it all over our bodies! Just have a merry old time BATHING in this insufferable- Get off!"

He continued brushing his feathers, too detested to even think of bringing his beak down to preen himself in such a state. His eyes coiled in a mix between hatred and despair, desperation; his feathers were his proudest feature- one of the few things he knew he could-

Revali jerked away in sudden recoil as he noticed Mipha's approach, yanking his arm up to shield his face in instinct before, "What is it, Zora?!"

She only smiled, bringing the jar of gekari gel from her side, earning her yet another reproachful gasp from Revali, "You've got to be kidding me! What is this?! Open season on my plumage?!"

"No," Mipha assured softly, "Just- Trust me."

He frowned, eyeing the others, "Yes, trust. A fine lot of people here for _that_."

Urbosa returned a droll stare of her own, while Link watched with curiosity, catching Mipha as she handled the Rito's arm with such immense respect, even catching Revali off guard, her voice breaking ever so slightly across the wind, "This stuff also cleanses any impurities from between our scales, so- I figured it might get all that sand from between your feathers, as well."

The Rito sneered, though failed to physically repel her actions, allowing Mipha to press on. She carefully dripped a line of the gelatinous, gooey substance down Revali's arm, twisting it at his hand to allow the gel to cascade over either side, it's viscosity seeming to decrease as it went along as though the more impurities it found, the quicker it slid down his skin. Revali's eyes narrowed as the gel made it around his arm, gently pittering to the ground, leaving him rather surprised by the ordeal.

"H-Hey, that's-" he paused, almost with a worrisome air, "That's not bad."

Mipha smiled up at him, "It's not bad on clearing debris from metal coils, either."

"Metal coils, I-!" Revali began, immediately retorting with a zealous rebuke at such a reference, though just as suddenly pulled back his tongue, his face twisting as he instead managed, "Well, thank you."

She only smiled in reply, though her hand remained at his, allowing her to leave the jar of gekari gel in his palm for him to take. Revali's eyes narrowed suspiciously as he noticed what she had left him, curiously cocking his eyes back toward her.

"Do you not need this?" he asked incredulously.

Mipha merely shrugged with a grin, "I've applied all of it that I should need. It's lasts awhile for us, so- Your feathers are so majestic; it'd be a shame for them to lose their luster, huh?"

The Rito man, still suspicious, nonetheless accepted the jar, working off its lid to apply some more as Mipha gave a courteous nod of her head before joining the others, whom had taken to roasting a very confused Daruk, leaving Revali to watch her cautiously, as though unsure of her intentions.

She'd used this stuff on herself, so it wasn't poisoned or anything, he ascertained. Perhaps it was safe to use, regardless.

* * *

Urbosa's face shone brilliantly as the Company made their way into Kara Kara Bazaar, the only all-inclusive commercial spot in the desert, leaving it to be rather hectic during the days. Locals took up shops to sell their wares, so foreign to the rest of the world, especially the men, while travelers from around Hyrule came to sell their own mundane items that, here, were sought after. Rupees flowed like a waterfall here, thanks to how private the Gerudo were; Urbosa had turned ancient tradition into a lucrative asset that better helped the Gerudo in times of crises.

"Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to my pride and joy- Kara Kara Bazaar!" she exclaimed happily, her face beaming excitedly, "Where tradition polymerizes with modernity. You can find a Gerudo elder selling ancient tosht dolls, and in the stall next to her, some bomb arrows. The second biggest commercial hub outside of Hyrule Kingdom."

"Oooh, wowie," Daruk mused weakly, leading by his nose, "The smells…"

Urbosa grinned, "We have quite the culinary fusion here, too. Mipha, you're familiar with the thistle roots of Necluda? Try cooking those with some safflina leaf and a bit of meat- you'll drool so much, you'd think you had filled that dam of yours by yourself!"

Giggling at the thought, Mipha took in the marketplace herself, keeping an eye out on all the eclectic vendors, all of whom seemed to incredibly different from the others when it came to their wares. She quickly jumped to the side as Daruk charged forward, desperate to find any source of the smells he was taking in, daring his tongue to go any second longer without tasting the delicacies here.

"Uh Daruk," Link minded, grabbing hold of the Gerudo's arm, "We've got a job to do, remember?"

Daruk turned with puppy-dog eyes, nearly in a breathless whine, "B-But-"

Chuckling at his insatiable reply, Urbosa grinned, "Normally I'd be the first to offer you the luxuries of these lands, but- It is as Link says. Vah Nabooris won't remain in its clear state for long; any moment, she could start up another lightning storm, so we'd best progress while we can."

Zelda smiled, reaching over to pat Daruk's arm herself, "Don't worry; we'll make time on our way back."

"Indeed," Urbosa nodded, "Until then, Zelda, Daruk, you two are with me. Lady Mipha, will you be joining us as well?"

She lowered her head to hide a weak smile, "While I'd like to visit, it would not be prudent of me. I'd be wise to remain with this oasis."

Urbosa eyes Revali, who'd been indulging himself with the remaining bit of gekari gel, leaving incredibly little to be given back to the Zora, though as long as she didn't seem to have any reservations, the Gerudo shrugged, nodding in agreement.

"Already, Zelda and Daruk, we'll head on out. At this rate, nightfall will be soon and we can traverse these lands without much dread of the rising heat," Urbosa confirmed aloud.

Zelda agreed, though she added, "Link, are you okay with..?"

He tilted his head easily, "I suppose I can trust your care with Urbosa. I've done it before."

The Gerudo smirked, pulling Zelda into a forceful sidelong embrace, "I wouldn't let the very winds touch her if I so willed it. She's safe in my care."

Zelda did her best to hide a giggle, finishing the assignments with ease, "Alright, Link, Mipha, Revali, you three hang out here for the night, and don't have too much fun without us."

Her eyes studied Link and Revali, the Rito still preoccupied with rubbing the gel across his plumage, "You two, please don't kill one another."

"PAH!" Revali immediately jerked his attention toward Zelda, "A true warrior such as myself would _never_ allow death to come to someone so revolting without at least five days worth of suffering! This blackguard deserves that, and more, were it up to me."

Link turned toward him, "For my attitude?"

The Rito frowned, dropping his head to return to his gelatinous preening, "You deserve _something_…"

Link sighed, returning to Zelda with a simple, "You have my word. Mipha 'n I used to spar years ago; so long as she's here, I doubt I could make it past her anyway."

He turned to give the Zora a mischievous grin, "I only beat her once or twice."

"Because you cheated," she reminded with a pristine smile, careful to keep her head low.

Link reiterated for the others, "Birdbrain will be fine."

"Good," Zelda sighed, as though the thought had plagued her for a time, "In that case, we'd better get a move on. Other than maybe a meal for Daruk's sake, we'll grab the helm and return immediately in the morning."

Urbosa frowned, "We have some athletes who've taken up seal-surfing, but until that becomes more of a commercial venture, that's about all we can do. We won't tarry."

Link and Mipha both nodded, with Revali chirping up later with a quick, "Well, get a move on! This heat is murder on my auriculars!"

On that unceremonious note, the three non-male members of the Company headed off further into the desert, the rest of their mission becoming clearing by the day, save for the matter of how to approach the Divine Beast itself. As Mipha stood there, she figured so long as she and Revali were doing little of importance, the least they could do was come up with some ideas for when the others returned, though that thought only forced her attention back to Link, who wasn't an official Champion himself. He had become so integral that she often forgot that he hardly even wanted to be here, yet despite his rivalry with Revali, he seemed to be a rather good sport about the whole thing.

She smiled carelessly while watching him, quickly hiding herself as he turned away with a sigh, shoving his hands into his pockets, "Well, so long as the ancient dictates of the Gerudo people dictate, we're kind of stuck here. You need anything for your scales, Lady Mipha?"

The Zora shuddered at his sudden reverence, "L-Lady Mipha?"

Link shrugged, "Well, it only bothers the Princess to be so casual, so-. Does it bother you?"

"N-No, I just-" she stammered nervously, "I was just getting used to it is all. It's kind of weird to hear, now."

Smiling at her childishness, Link shrugged, "Alright, I'll stick with 'Mipha'. Need anything?"

"Just some, uh…" she began, pausing disjointedly as her nerves reverberated, "If you find some swift violet, that's- supposed to be good for dry scales."

Link nodded, "Consider it done. I'll check out the market if you need to go ahead and get a swim in."

His brow narrowed with confusion, "Would anybody mind you doing that?"

Mipha shrugged, "I-I guess Lady Urbosa would have been the one to ask…"

With that lingering question, the two went about as though it had been answered, especially with the setting sun meaning traffic was decreasing anyway. With less and less people, Mipha's apprehension abated only for a brief moment, thinking more and more about her current predicament.

Much like a few nights ago, she and Link were more or less alone together.


	12. A Starlit Swim

Link's eyes peered tirelessly up toward the stars above, laying on his back with his hands behind his head for support, having tried to go to sleep an hour ago, but to no avail. Instead, he kept his eyes on the passing clouds, the thin, wispy trails all that remained of the storms that met the mighty Gerudo mountains, leaving no rain for the desert sands. The dark strands floating along the dark sky seemed almost eerie, like premonitory symbols meant to be read like tea leaves within a mug.

His eyes traced their way up to the moon, which greeted him on this night , having gone unseen behind the canyon walls the night before, its gentle glowing allowing him a bit of comfort. Restlessly, Link turned to his side, shutting his eyes tight as though to will himself to sleep, crossing his arms and shoving her hands between his arms and sides to keep warm as the breeze picked up, frowning to himself at having remained behind. He realized, too late, that he would have been quick to spend most of this time walking, even if it meant waiting outside Gerudo Town for a few brief moments. Alas, he'd made his bed, so to speak, though he still wasn't exactly content with sleeping atop the rough surface.

There he remained for a time, the seconds passing by slowly as he silently counted them. One… two… three… eighty-eight… eighty-nine… nine…ty… nine…ty o…ne… Sleepiness grew upon him gradually, but surely, his vision hazily leaving the back of his eyelids as he so slowly lost himself to-

"SNNNNNNOOOOOOCCK!" came an intense rumbling of a snore from nearby, sending Link's eyes wide open as he jerked his head around in shock, finding Revali sprawled out on his back, arms out wide as his open beaks emulated a steam engine, "SNNNNNOOOOOOCK!"

Link's eyes went red with tired futility, grumbling obscenities to himself as he returned to his napping position, eyes rolling with ire before shutting once again with a lengthy sigh escaping his nose. Not too long into this latest attempt at rest, however, Link's eyes opened once again, catching the sight of Mipha's equipment resting in line with the two of theirs, but she hadn't come to sleep yet, leaving a curious pang to cross Link's mind. Surely it was too late for her to be up doing much of anything, but what matter of it was his? He wasn't a Champion, despite that dutiful reverberation in his chest that demanded his unit be at its best.

Still, he'd known this person for most his life, and on that front, figured he was somewhat able to have such feelings in the way of camaraderie. He'd always had a soft spot for the Zora people, so dutifully adept at any and all skills they perused, almost as though each act of theirs was some religion- some worthwhile endeavor worthy of worship, of endless devotion. Such a righteous sense came to bear within Link as well when it came to his knightly duties, making them a people after his own soldierly soul.

Plus, they were friends, he and Mipha- not mere companions on this aimless journey. Link pushed himself up to his feet, finally surrendering to his body's revulsion of sleep, and made his way out from the space between tents that had been constructed near the edge of the Bazaar. The chilly breeze had died down, much to his relief, leaving him more willing to venture out and search for the young woman already so capable of looking out for herself. He'd known defeat at her hands far too many times to know anything else.

He made his way through the grove of tents made up by weary travelers, keeping an eye out for any adversarial activity, as was his instinct by this point. His steps tread carefully through the sand, hands help out in balance as he rounded the final tent, his vision just coming across the small pond at the head of the Bazaar with a-

He paused, stopping his advance with a jolt as his eyes locked onto the gentle waters of the oasis, a pang rushing through his chest at the sight. Bathed between the still waters below and the moonlight from above, Mipha floated atop the oasis waters, her eye in profile narrowed calmly while she took in the efflorescence of stars held up in the sky. Link's eyes froze, slowly sending his body toward the nearest tent as if to conceal himself; his mind aflutter by both the sheer beauty of this creature as well as why he hadn't noticed it before.

Without any sense of withdrawal, his eyes ran the length of her lithe body, curving and winding its way atop the still waters while still finding secrecy underneath the surface, its distortion only alluding to things unseen- things hidden. Link had known she was something of a pretty young woman, at least within a Zora's time-scale, but seeing her like this, nearly glowing, her crimson scales nearly glittering with starlight while curving around that body, so pert and slender. Without realizing, his hand and raised to clutch his shirt at his chest, hanging there as if to catch himself, though he wasn't falling.

Slowly, Mipha's head fell to the side, her eyes reflecting the moonlight and peering toward him like diamonds, watching him with growing confusion as her brow fell, forcing Link to rapidly regain something of composure, though in such a measly amount of time, this meant he more or less cleared his throat and turned off toward the Bazaar, pointing a finger with feigned confidence.

"The, uh, safflinas are in bloom," he managed, only forcing his own confusion to arise, "That is- to say…"

Mipha gave a helpful smile as the remained lying there atop the water, Link's eyes desperately remaining averted, lest they find themselves resting atop her body once more. The Zora spun in a reflexively spry manner, dipping her body forward into the oasis before sommersaulting in the water, allowing herself to more or less float upright as her head popped forth, still smiling with a friendly sort of warmth. Link remained unconvincingly preoccupied by the dark Bazaar, until Mipha spoke up with a calm voice.

"Did you come for a swim, too?"

"N-No!" Link assured, as though having been accused, throwing his attention back toward her, "I just- I couldn't sleep and noticed you hadn't gotten into your sleeping sack, so-"

Mipha smiled, "I can take care of myself, you assuredly already know."

A nervous sort of tone lined Link's voice, "I, uh- actually thought the same thing before coming to find you."

Giggling in reply, Mipha fell backward with something only quietly resembling a splash, disappearing into the shallow oasis waters. Link was rather astounded that such a tiny amount of water could be used with such contentedness by a Zora who was used to traveling up powerful streams and traversing great distances at once, his feet moving him closer as curiosity consumed him. Was she simply swimming in circles, or-?

Having only slightly closed the distance between himself and those waters, Mipha reappeared with the same near-silence she'd disappeared with, throwing her head upward, the exploding splash of droplets shimmering, surrounding her with starlit jewels for only a brief moment. Link's eyes locked onto her bare chest, catching emotions he might have had for a Hylian woman were he not so used to associating such women with dutiful actions. Hylian men and women were meant to be protected by his hand. This woman, however…

Link's eyes rebounded quickly as Mipha's stare returned to him, her hand gently stroking her dorsal fin as she floated there upright, drops of water glittering down her skin, "You know, we Zora that frequent enough ponds, lakes, rivers- we begin to get acquainted with them almost. You recognize the feel of them, the tastes, the oxygen content, everything. This oasis-"

She grinned, turning her head downward to examine the lowly body of water, "-it's almost playful in a sense, I don't know. It goes through so much just to remain here; perhaps it enjoys a friendly swim once and a while. just to make all those trials worth it."

Link remained still, almost frightfully so, forcing a smirk along Mipha's face as she decided to goad him along, "Come on. I want to show you something."

His brow scrunched in confusion, Link slowly approached the oasis waters, watching Mipha carefully as if expecting a prank to be pulled on him. Sure enough, she only replied with a smile, cupping her hands before dropping them into the water, only pulling themselves back out once Link arrived. She dropped her head in direction, to which Link answered by sitting there at the water's edge, cross-legged, as Mipha offered her hands toward him.

"You know where this water came from?" she asked.

Link replied, "Is that a serious question?"

Another brief giggle before Mipha nodded, "Go ahead."

A quick, reflexive frown crossed Link's face dismissively for only a second before lowering his head, only getting his body more enraptured by how close he was getting to those sleek hands of Mipha's. Taking a cue from her earlier words, he figured smelling the water was as good of an investigative technique as anything else at his disposal, lowering his head so that his nose came just at the cupped water's surface.

"Well, uh-" Link muttered, "It's _still_."

Mipha smirked, pulling her hands toward her face, "There's some smells here, like Tabantha creeks. some bits of Lanayru tidepools- that might add a bit of liveliness. That water ascends to form clouds, and only the smallest amount can truly conquer the Gerudo Mountains and make it here."

Her eyes jumped up from her low-hanging head, catching Link's attention with an allure he hadn't known from this woman, her voice lowering questioningly, causing a pattering alongside Link's beating heart, "Have you caught on that I'm joking?"

"We- Well, I-" Link nervously replied, Mipha only grinning mischievously before dropping the water from her hands and pushing herself backwards, further into the shallow waters.

"Got you," she spoke up happily, almost snickering proudly.

Link sighed, raising his head with some dignity, "Maybe this one time, sure."

"Uh huh," Mipha cooed teasingly, pulling in her mischievousness to speak sincerely, "Would you like to join me? It's not that cold."

Link eyed her, "Spoken like a true cold-blood."

She only grinned, "Okay, maybe at first, but- you'll get used to it."

"After the hypothermia sets in, sure," Link challenged with a wry grin, finding a method of changing the subject, "Speaking of, do you know how to spell that in Hylian?"

Mipha bit her lip, averting her eyes as her swimming body came to a stop, "Well, no, but I'm working on it."

She smiled weakly, "Your Princess must know herself. She's all to ready to hand me the map, while also proclaiming the names of places, as though giving me some guidance in what to look for."

"Subtle studies," Link chuckled, lowering his face as Mipha's body returned to its gentle skimming along the water's surface.

It was only with the slightest bit of apprehension that he allowed his eyes to roll upward, catching Mipha's body ever so delicately sliding along the oasis, having returned to lying out on her back and simply floating there, Link's proximity allowing him to catch her fins trailing along underneath her, fluttering silently as they slid through the water. He wondered what her skin must feel like atop of his, quickly jolting free from such dangerous thoughts as Mipha's voice broke through, a tender, longing tone accompanying it.

"You know, we used to worship the moon as our goddess," Mipha explained quietly, "It creates the tides, so- when our distant ancestors first strode onto the earth from the oceans, it was only due to her coercion. It took the form of a celestial mother almost, casting the sun's light upon us even in the dark of night; the moonlight has a subtle kind of warmth to it, not- It's more comforting than the sunlight, which is far more useful in basking."

She turned an eye toward Link, "Can you not feel its warmth?"

Skeptically, Link replied, "Trying to get me again, huh?"

"No," Mipha insisted with a giggle.

Playfully speeding up her gliding along her back, she somersaulted once again, Link captivated by her lithe form once again, before straightening up and swimming her way closer to Link, his eyes staying on her apprehensively as she approached within those soft waters. Without speaking, she stuck out an arm from the tiny pond, reaching out toward Link's side and shoving a single finger into the sand, curving it into the unmistakable shapes of Hylian script, leaving Link with a raised brow, surprised that she was making sense to him with her movements.

"_Mipha_ " the Zora smiled, raising her eyes toward Link proudly so, contented with her ability after only a handful of days.

Link nodded in assurance, "Not bad. You must have a knack for languages."

She frowned, "We're that the case, I'd have picked it up by now. Then again, Hylian books are rare in Zora's Domain, ever since Muzu had them all banished, so this journey _has_ been more exposure to your written word than I'm normally exposed to."

"I thought it might just be a biological thing," Link shrugged, "Like, do you take to your native tongue easier just because of how you are?"

Mipha wondered silently, her eyes fluttering off toward the distance as she did so, "I've never thought of it. Though, our native 'tongue' isn't."

"Huh?"

Giggling weakly, Mipha lowered her head with slight embarrassment, "Well, uh- In the water, speech doesn't travel…you know. Our native langue was more like…clicking and stuff."

Link's lips turned up with amusement, more due to how ashamed Mipha seemed to be of the topic, "Really? How does it go?"

"W-Well, I, uh-" she spoke up, flustered, recalling Link's inability to enter the water, "That is, I- I can't do it outside the water, so- it's a futile effort otherwise."

Link thought of the frigid air surrounding him, but quickly put it aside, thinking so much more about how she'd played him moments earlier and how the score needed to be settled. As a wave of relief coursed through Mipha's body, believing she had successfully thwarted the embarrassing act of speaking in her native 'language', her eyes immediately jolted open as Link rose to his feet, crossing his arms and taking hold of the bottom end of his shirt.

"J-J-J-Just what're you doing?!" she questioned in a desperate attempt at understanding, though Link simply pulled his shirt over his head, tossing it atop a nearby tent.

He shrugged, "You said you could only do it underwater, so-"

Between his bare torso, its muscular tone that immediately drew Mipha's attention, and his wording, she immediately gave a nervous chattering of her teeth, "W-W-What?!"

"Your ancient language," Link clarified with a grin.

She barely even heard him that time as well, her eyes still struggling to remain off his pale skin which had gradually begun to rise with a tiny of scarlet, the cold air having brought his blood forward to better warm himself. Her breath nearly caught in a faraway place for how decadently warm and muscular he seemed to be, even as he kicked off his boots and tossed away his socks. She still hadn't a word as he stepped into the oasis with a shivering gasp before settling in.

"Goddess, it's cold," he griped, though quickly turned toward Mipha, "Well, is there a specific depth you need to be or anything?"

Mipha's feigned confidence, quickly taking a brave face as she cleared her throat, "N-No, I can be anywhere, but- Won't you be cold submerging yourself?"

Link shrugged, "Its not too bad; I'm warm-natured anyway, so the cold is actually pretty nice against my skin."

Her heart skipping a beat, Mipha's eyes glazed over but for a moment, such a phrase easily misinterpretable as something of a flirty advance, though Link remained placid, simply watching as Mipha did her best to compose herself. She cleared her throat once more, silently praised any and all gods, as well as the moon, for her inability to blush, and offered one last chance for surrender.

"I won't have to save you from drowning again, will I?" she asked with a smirk.

"Hey," Link reminded quickly, "I'm pretty sure Jiahto had more to do with rescuing me. Either way, I've become quite the adept swimmer in my adulthood."

Mipha watched him nervously, the pounding in her chest increasing as she further battled the urge to glance any lower than his chin. How was it that she desired nothing more than to do nothing but lay atop this man, basking not in the sun, but in his powerful, spirited, courageous flame, set alight within his very spirit? The thought itself frightened her, and for a brief moment, she was relieved as she descended into the waters below, allowing herself a quick moment to groan to herself before Link could join her, hoping to have released so much emotion in order to better focus.

Joined beneath the water's surface, Link watched Mipha attentively, his cheeks puffed in withheld breath. The sight was truly childish, though Mipha was quick to remain neutral; besides, she needed to focus, recalling what exactly it was she had to do. Ancient Zora language was in disuse, carried only by royalty, really, alongside a few outliers who found interest in the sonar-like speech. Mipha concentrated, long enough that Link had to return for another breath, the Zora woman having made a motion for him to do so after signaling toward her head to symbolize her thinking.

Finally, she had something, her eyes cast just below her cranial ridge as they watched Link shyly. He only watched attentively, the growing nerves swelling up within Mipha's chest. It was already quite embarrassing, and a bit undignified considering how able the Zora were, now, with their tongues capable of actual speech, but Link had asked- this Hylian- this man, whom she'd known as a boy. How had he grown into such a handsome man? That clumsy little thing, who'd hardly come up to Mipha's shoulders as a young teenager.

She remembered that promise she'd made to herself. Promising herself to this strong, courageous man, only if he returned taller than she. He had unknowingly kept that bargain, and her heart was take-

"SquEEEEK-!"

Mipha's hands flew up to cover her mouth, eyes shooting open wide in terror as her vocal cords recoiled from their sudden, unexpected chirping, almost that of a dolphin's, as Link's mouth immediately let loose a flurry of bubbles as he laughed, forcing himself to surface before his lungs took on water.

"Pfft, ha ha!" he finished, struggling to catch a breath between his laughs, throwing his hands up along his forehead to remove his hair from his face, "Mipha, that-"

He couldn't withhold his chuckles, even after noticing Mipha simply staying underwater, too terrified and embarrassed to face the man once again. Link gently reached for her in hopes of guiding her back to the surface, but her body immediately swirled away, her speed tremendous in that aquatic environment.

"Mipha…" Link muttered dishearteningly, despite her being unable to hear.

She finally surfaced at the far end of the oasis, still covering her face as she began exiting the pool of water, shaking her head in utter humiliation until Link spoke up, "Mipha, don't-! It was just cute, okay?"

Those words did little to soothe her embarrassment, yet- She stopped in her tracks, turning back around to face him with a low, downtrodden face, her voice lined with dejection.

"I- didn't even do it right," she admitted weakly.

Link shrugged, "I wouldn't have even know had you not said anything. Look-"

He swam over toward her, his body's athletic movement catching Mipha's eye. Half her body still submerged, Link came close by, still having to wade within the water as she stood, kicking his feet restlessly as he explained.

"I didn't mean it to be mean, I- If it had been such a big deal, I would have dropped it," he concluded softly, "Sorry."

Mipha's lips had curled into a frown, though they'd subtly grown content with his words. For all that was embarrassing about her aquatic speaking in general- she truly had wanted to ease Link's interest. She wanted him to know- well, maybe wanted him to know, through such subtle means, that she trusted him. And then to mess up as she had…

"I couldn't swim," Link suddenly spoke up, tearing Mipha from her mind's eye.

"Huh?"

Link's lips rolled inward with knowing defeat, "Yeah, I was- pretty terrified of water, really. I was kind of scrappy as a kind, with my curiosity to broad for my abilities at the time. I got into a few fights, 'n one of them involved me nearly drowning. Some kid shoved my head in a fountain, and- If our instructor hadn't shown up, I might not be here today. But I was terrified of water for the longest time."

Mipha watched him cautiously, "I don't under-"

"Well, I figured it's a tradeoff," he explained, "One embarrassing thing for another."

The Zora smiled lightly, "Being afraid of the water isn't _that_ embarrassing, at least for a Hylian."

"Well, making pretty noises like _that_ shouldn't be embarrassing for a Zora."

A chill crossed Mipha's spine, those deep-seated emotions she'd had about this man swelling up within her. Her head hung low, she raised her eyesight just enough to catch Link's warm look, with that face that so easily melted her heart on occasion. She knew it was wrong- it always had been. But she couldn't help it.

Link's hands went numb, knowing he'd gone a word too far with his last statement. He worried he had gone too far, knowing that Mipha certainly had something a little bit more than friendship when it came to the two of them. He always thought it might have been some childish thing, but, looking back after being told that Lady Mipha would be joining this Company- But he was a soldier, and despite imbibing in a little fun with her, hadn't any intentions of leading her on. But that word, 'pretty'- it had certainly gone too far.

"Sorry, I-"

He suddenly spit out in the aftermath of a burst of water crashing against his face, jerking his head to the side in recoil before returning to find Mipha with her hands in the water, clutched together to create a squirt gun with her fingers acting as pressure gauges to launch a small amount of water into the air. Link watched her in confusion, remembering having taught her that very thing as children, with only a mischievous smirk crawling upon his face, quickly replicating her motion as she pressed on, squirting him again as Link tensed, blindly firing his own stream of water back at her as she dove into the water, leaving Link to spin in following her direction, his hands coupled, primed to fire.

"Hey, no fair," he asserted as Mipha quickly burst through the bottom of the oasis' waters.

She seemed to have heard him, immediately heading for the surface with a burst of water splashing from her exit, collapsing onto Link's head and rendering him blind once again as she fired at him once more. The two resorted to laughing fits as Link simply resorted to slicing his open palms through the water's surface, sending bursts of water in Mipha's direction as she slammed her dorsal fin, clapping against the water to emit bursts of water. Their playful act continued until Link raised his hands in surrender, his legs having begun to tire.

"Alright, alright, you win," he admitted weakly, his breaths ragged.

Mipha grinned, "Again, you mean."

Link groaned, rolling his eyes, "Okay, I suppose that's twice now, tonight. There'll be more though, I swear."

"Uh huh," Mipha teased, quickly rushing over amidst noticing his weakened swimming, "And if you drown, that's _another_ in my column."

Link chuckled, "You'd like that, wouldn't you?"

Gently, her arms wrapped around his bare chest. Link's eyes remained forward nervously, not wanting to turn to face the woman who'd just taken him into her arms. There came a pause between the two, Mipha's heart racing at the sensations that began swirling around within her. This man was so warm, she thought, even in these cool waters. The two feelings rendered the two of them speechless, still in the middle of the oasis with Mipha holding Link afloat while his legs slowed.

"I wouldn't like that," she admitted carefully, her voice a whisper before kicking her own legs to direct him toward the embankment, smiling as if to attempt to diffuse the situation, "You know, you're rather uncouth for a Royal Knight."

Link's eyes turned toward her, catching her glance as his feet hit the sand at the bottom, "I mean, I haven't a Princess to protect right now, so…"

Mipha bit her tongue, her heart _begging_ for her to speak, though her head only fell with a lonesome smirk, betraying her heartfelt tugging. How she so desperately wished to be that Princess behind his breath. Within in arms. Perhaps even within his heart… Yet she couldn't bear to speak, Link's hands coming up to her arms gently, worry beginning to set in.

"Thanks," Link nodded, "I don't have much fun these days, but- You kind of take me back, I guess, to those days where everything was so less serious and strenuous. Everything was less worrisome and all that, so-"

Mipha smiled, "I had fun too. Even with the embarrassment."

"Got you," Link smirked boyishly, carefully working his way out from the oasis as Mipha watched his bare back dripping with water, wholly allured by the sight of him glistening along muscular ridges.

He retrieved his shirt and socks before turning back toward Mipha, nodding toward her, "If anything, it got me all tired, so I'll head back. Make sure you get some rest too, though, okay?"

Mipha nodded obediently, watching as Link disappeared behind the line of tents that sat nearby. Instead of returning to her swimming, however, she simply watched the waters before her, watching their rippling motions, still from Link's having left. Each ripple, almost as if Link were still there, still brushing up against her skin with every ridge atop the water. She crossed her arms, holding herself as her eyes closed softly, imaging it were he in her arms and not herself.

How she so desperately wanted to be _that_ Princess to him.


	13. A Thunderous Reunion

Link and Mipha stood almost silently as they awaited the return of the rest of the Company, an air of awkwardity covering, at least in Mipha's mind, the atmosphere surrounding the two of them. Her shoulders enclosed as she stood there, grappling her bag of supplies in front of her, as if in some subtle defensive stance, though she couldn't tell what exactly was causing her shell-like posture. Perhaps it had been the night before, she thought for only a brief moment, before shaking that memory from her head. The last thing she wanted was Link to bring it back up, forcing her to deal with the flurry of emotions that had swirled throughout her body, their light attempt at relaxation having gradually grown into something far more…strange.

She lifted her head, only barely, to peer at Link, who was standing nearby with a small booklet in his hand, writing in it with the other, perhaps taking stock of everything they'd purchased from the bazaar for the means of their continuing journey. Mipha couldn't help but smirk at such dutiful behavior coming from a man so quick to refute any and all involvement in this Company.

Slowly, she lowered her head once again, her brief show of brightness fading away as she stopped herself from offering to help. The quick thought of his reply, of hearing his voice, suddenly terrified her, if only because she hadn't a clue how her heart might react to such things. Her mind had been aswirl so fiercely, not only due to her upbringing all but preventing her from exploring such fascinations as the opposite sex, but because of… Her eyes fell at the thought. She allowed her bag to hit the sand quietly before allowing a hand to reach up, grasping her opposing arm as if to cover herself.

Mipha's face burned, not with embarrassment, but with shame. with anger. Anger that everything she felt now, about Link, was so inexorably tied with such heartache in her past. The very sort of thing she now so readily wished to indulge in was the very thing that prevented her mother from ever looking at Mipha the same way. and as much as it continued to confuse her, it broke her heart just the same.

"Hmm," Link suddenly mused under his breath, examining his booklet, "That should be it. I wouldn't expect Revali to return with anything to add."

Breaking Mipha from such a tumultuous reverie, she turned her attention toward him as he handed over the booklet, "Here."

"What's this?" she asked, taking the hand-sized pamphlet-like book.

Link shrugged, "Just an old exercise I picked up for organization's sake. Keep track of your junk, as my old commander put it; it just makes it easier when tracking down supplies, though, with Daruk in tow, I'm not exactly tracking food stores."

He grinned, watching as Mipha rotated the booklet as if trying to orient it properly, "Figured you might try and catch any words you might have come to recognize."

Mipha's eyes strained as she attempted to do so, her focus remaining steadfast as Revali's voice broke the air, the Rito having returned from a final perusing of the bazaar, "Hylian! Zora! You must examine the accouterments and trappings the have on display today! A caravan from the outskirts has brought a plethora of intriguing things!"

Link's lips turned in feigned interest, simply returning his attention to Mipha as he spoke up in reply, "Well, just so long as the Gerudo you bought from didn't see a foreigner and decide to take you for a ride."

Scowling distastefully, Revali shot Link a glare, "I'll have you know, _nothing_ goes over my head, Hylian."

Shrugging, Link couldn't help himself, taking a quick glance toward Revali, "You know what they say, there's a sucker hatched every second."

"Pah. So clever, are we?" Revali shot back sarcastically while shaking his head, "The only fool I see here is you, Hylian; what, with your fettered garb keeping you so restrained in this heat."

Link rolled his eyes, "I'm a _knight_. There's an expectation of me. Such things cannot be said of you, however."

Recognizing Link's subtle hint toward further such jabs, Revali merely scoffed aloud in reply, instead turning his conversation toward Mipha, who'd turned up from the booklet, "Zora, I did ask for some of that gekari gel in order to repay you. Fortunately, she did have two jars among her impedimenta that I procured for you."

Surprised, Mipha's brow rose as Revali pulled a jar of gel from his pack, handing it back to her with a respectable air, "Thank you for such foresight, and for offering me the same advantages you sought for yourself."

"O-Oh! Well, it's not at all a problem," Mipha affirmed happily, accepting the jar and rummaging through her own rucksack to store it, "I'm just happy it seems to have given you some relief."

"Indeed! I must return home with such tidings of its usefulness!" Revali exclaimed suddenly while allowing a hand to run along his feathered mantle, "I'd have preened for days to achieve a similar effect! Well, it's lackluster in comparison to preening, but for convenience sake, it seems to be well suited for such occasions."

Once again unsure of how to accept the back-handed compliment, Mipha simply smiled while bowing her head, "Thank you. I'm sure we'd be more than happy to work out something of an arrangement between our people, should you find gekari gel useful."

"T'would be nice indeed," Revali noted with a nod, "Such distance separates our people; it would be advantageous to find reasons to extend ourselves so far."

His eyes fell to Link once again, "Though I dread the thought of crossing the lands of Hylians…"

"Were you not so obnoxious, you might find our hospitality to be rather agreeable," Link shrugged, "Mipha here, for example, would be treated to the finest spas away from Death Mountain, and offered only the finest waters and oils with which to bathe in. Had your people not been so antagonistic, we might have had reason to better learn what amenities best compliment the Rito."

Revali rolled his eyes, "I apologize for my ancestor's _antagonism_; we were only trying to _stay_ _alive_, after all."

He turned to Mipha, "Watch them. It wouldn't surprise me if this entire enterprise is Princess Zelda's attempt to learn more about how best to invade."

"Yes, the girl who will drop to the ground at the very hint of some new flora or fauna is best equipped at invasion," Link muttered drolly, his head rolling along his shoulders, "You don't need _my_ word to trust how stupid your bird-brained ideas are."

Revali scowled, taken aback by Link's brazen words just long enough for Mipha to interject, not wanted the others to return to such a confrontation, "H-Hey, let's just- What in the name of the goddess is that..?"

Her eyes had peered off into the distance, her shaky tone catching the two boys' attention as they turned to find Urbosa strolling into town, beneath a ghastly-looking ornamental pillar of gold that sat atop her head, with six green, beady eyes staring right back at them. Link's eyes went wide in shock at the sight, leaving Revali to grab hold of his bag, shaking his head.

"I'm done," he muttered, raising his free hand as if to wash it clean of his involvement with anything to do with these people.

Link reached out absently to hold him back, causing the Rito to spew back in a retaliatory voice, "I'm _not_ about to be seen carrying on alongside such a ridiculous trinket!"

"Hey!" Urbosa shouted, pushing the Thunder Helm up over her head so that she may see, "This _trinket _has protected my people for millenia! Since the time Vah Naboris came to be, even."

She pulled the helm from her head, examining it in her arm for a moment in monumental awe, "For all the pillaging, warfare, and hatred we've been subjected to across the ages, this helm remains the single possession of ours untouched by anybody beyond the Gerudo."

Zelda and Daruk weren't far behind, the former taking the initiative as she peeked around Urbosa's side to view the helm once again, "Queen Seorake even died as a result of ensuring this helm remained purely Gerudo, correct?"

Urbosa nodded proudly, "Indeed! A Hylian general was all but prepared to slide it onto his head when Seorake charged at his royal guard, splintering their troupe and slicing off the man's head! Needless to say, they put her to death, but such ferocity was so respected, they left the Thunder Helm in place after occupying Gerudo Town for a while."

Scoffing at such a trifling tale, Revali turned away with crossed arms, leaving Link to lean to the side to find what had caused Daruk to go without such a boisterous entrance, finding the Goron with armfuls of food, even some sausage links dangling from his neck and biceps. Noticing Link's inquiring glance, the Goron lifted his arms in presentation, gleefully murmuring from within a mouthful of food.

"Wink! 'heck it owt!"

Link's brow curled in worry as Zelda quickly attempted to regain control over the rapidly meandering attention of the Company, "Did you three sleep well? I apologize; we sort of tarried along a bit."

"Oh, not at all," Mipha replied with a shake of her head, hiding a grin with her hand, "I mean, it seems Daruk enjoyed himself."

The Goron raised a handful of food as though in offering, leaving Zelda to continue, "Alright then. We're off into the desert, then. To the west lies the plateau where Vah Naboris often strides. Urbosa and I were speaking about it and concluded that the best course of action would be to ascend to the peak and hop on."

"Pshaw!" Revali scoffed, "How do you expect such trudging beings as you all to ascend such grandiose heights?! It would be nothing short of immense hubris to claim victory over such-"

He paused, noticing Zelda's almost hopeful stare toward him. Quickly turning toward Urbosa and finding her with something of defeat lining her face, Revali was left questioning.

"…wait," he muttered drolly.

Zelda sighed, "Well, Urbosa can make quick work of the cliffs, but the rest of us may need some, uh…assistance."

Revali scowled, "_I_ _beg_ _your_ _pardon_?!"

"I mean," Zelda paused, taking a second to better prepare her argument, though Urbosa interjected all the same.

"We need you to be a carrier pigeon," she spoke with ease.

Revali sputtered with both anger and confusion, "By the-! I've never heard of something so…revolting!"

Link offered simply, "Seems fitting."

The Rito spun around to shoot Link the fiercest of stares before returning toward Zelda, "Surely this was not what you meant by bringing us all together. Running us all ashame with such indignities!"

"I-I mean, that was just one idea!" Zelda clarified with a hasty tone.

Smirking, Urbosa shrugged, "A pretty good one."

Revali's face curled up angrily, his arms shooting to his chest as they crossed, "With the great god Witwa as my witness, no such degradation will _ever_ befall my talons, I can certainly assure you."

Sighing lightly with some relief, perhaps that Revali hadn't immediately soared off, Zelda simply retorted, "Alright, we'll come up with something else on the way. As I said, just an idea. Daruk constructed an idea regarding a slingshot."

"OWH WEAH!" Daruk exclaimed through a mouthful of buzzard, "Sohmt'ng like dat."

Revali cackled, turning toward Link expectantly, "Now _that's_ a solid idea! I'd love for this Hylian to be the first to test it!"

"We're not testing anything that's not safe for us all," Urbosa confirmed with a low tone, "That's what this Company is about. Either all of us, or none of us. If _we_ cannot remain united, how can we expect the whole of Hyrule to follow our example, should the inevitable occur?"

Revali shrugged, cocking his head to the side with indifference while Zelda returned to the fore, "Alright everybody, prepare to get a move on. We haven't much time if we're to meet Vah Naboris as she makes her rounds along the Great Cliffs; regardless of whatever method we decide upon when it comes to getting up there, that is where we strike."

Perhaps more of fatigue settling in than anything else, the Company gave a collective, unenthusiastic series of nods to answer Zelda, much to her dismay. Her brow furrowed in worry, her mind suddenly awash with doubt, worry about morale, the Company's perceptions of her, of-

"Understood?!" Urbosa shouted with a fierce air.

The crew immediately perked up.

"Y-Yesh!" came from Daruk.

"Of course, Lady Zelda!" from Mipha.

"On my honor," Link nodded.

Lastly from Revali, the Rito gave a heated snort before shrugging, "Aye aye."

Not long after, the Company of Champions headed off into the desert, leaving nothing behind after the trails of footsteps in their wake. Upon the horizon, the giant mechanical beast, Vah Naboris could be seen, the powerful stomping of ground beginning to reverberate even unto the Company's feet as it approached. As Zelda peered off toward its darkening silhouette, she couldn't help but fathom the many Sheikah footsteps that had traversed these very lands where she stood. How many Sheikah minds had come together to build such a spectacular invention. How many Sheikah had given so much so that Hyrule might prevail against this dark, imposing threat.

How Zelda so hoped she would not fail.


	14. Riding the Lightning

**_A/N: Ah, every story gets to a point where readers suddenly realize how bad I am at writing action scenes xD Hopefully it's not too bad to grasp what all's going on :p_**

* * *

"Well, I'll take what we can get," Link muttered absently, "Not nearly as hot as it was the day we showed up here."

Mipha nodded, stroking the scales along her arm, "Certainly. I barely feel much difference than when I'm taking a light sun bath. If anything, it's just right that I'm not lethargic; it's interesting to feel comforted while also able to remain mobile."

"Well, my little Zora friend, should you require a powerful grasp to keep you aloft, look no further than Daruk!" the large Goron exclaimed, all to happy to wring out a credential, "I _was_ voted 'most helpful' years ago, back when I was a little pebble paddler; my fate as a hero of the Gorons was, in a sense, set in stone!"

He chuckled at his own pun, allowing Urbosa to interject over her shoulder, "You should return during the winter season, Mipha. You haven't humidity up in Zorana, correct?"

Mipha's eyes went wide with nervous confusion at being on the spot, her stare quickly spinning toward Link for reassurance, though Urbosa happily explained with a chuckle, "Humidity is like- Well, it's not raining, but the air almost feels damp in a way, as though water itself is struggling to grasp onto the very air."

"Wooow," Mipha mused quietly in wonderment, having never thought such a thing would have existed.

"It's murder on the tourists, since it basically has 'em sweating constantly, but for a Zora? It might be a fun little thing. You don't sweat, do you?" Urbosa asked.

Mipha shook her head, "Honestly, we would probably die if we did. We're cold blooded beings, so too much heat really only puts us to sleep."

"Bwah ha!" Daruk laughed, "Perhaps Death Mountain could become a Zora resort! I've heard of many people who wish to sleep for days on end; perhaps a Goron squad of handlers could carry a mobile bed for which a Zora could sleep on, the squad ready and willing to remove the Zora at just the right times to keep them asleep without overdoing it."

Link grinned, "That's the sort of ingenuity that gets you 'most helpful pebble paddler'."

With a swift gesture, Daruk launched a thumbs up toward Link, leaving Mipha to giggle in reply, "That's, uh, an interesting idea."

Zelda's lips curled in thought, still wondering how to mend the conflict from earlier, taking the chance to include Revali in on the fun, "Revali? What about the Rito?

"What about us?" he asked rather snidely, "Do we sweat, sleep, or help others?"

He quickly shot a glance toward Link, whose mouth had opened in retort, Revali warning mildly, "Don't…"

Link frowned, though reneged on his witty retort, instead allowing Zelda to continue her good will, "Well, I suppose sweating. I guess it gets hot the closer you stretch yourself toward the sun."

"We do not sweat, no," Revali uttered, more with disgust, "Though I can imagine the nightmare of bathing in your own body's natural grimy extracts. If you must know, we Rito have a wide array of methods with which to deal with excess heat. The temperature was downright furious last night, for instance, so I took in the opportunity to flutter my gular a handful of times."

Urbosa shot him a wonderous glance, stifling a snicker, "I'm sorry, what?"

"Gah, how I do miss _cultured_ individuals…" Revali's sighed in exasperation, "You just open your mouth and flutter your neck; it's nothing spectacular."

Link waved his arms excitedly, "No, no! It's amazing! Please, show us!"

"Yes, you must!" Urbosa goaded, though both of their cries to action were met with a scoff.

"Please, do not think me stupid enough; this is clearly only to get in a laugh. We can't _all_ be Hylia's chosen people, so some must indulge in depravity; it's nothing new," Revali groaned inexorably, shaking his head, "But please, ask the Goron next; I'm on the edge of my seat to hear this conversation to its conclusion."

Daruk's brow furrowed with confusion at the baton being passed to him, his hand reaching up to stroke his burly, white beard, "Well, uh- I mean, we're mere rocks imbued with the breath of life, as offered by the goddess Nayru herself. I don't even know what heat is."

Suddenly realizing just how weird this made him sound, Daruk grew more and more nervous, "That is to say, I- Heat, I mean- I don't know heat, like _heat_, but I do know the burning heat of embarrassment that tears through a being unable to truly-"

"Daruk! Daruk; it's okay," Link assured, interrupting the man before he lost himself to his own nervous pressures.

The interjection allowed Daruk a break, his head dropping forward as he apologize, "S-Sorry."

"Oh no, it was quite a display," Revali assured with a sardonic air, "For one so foreign to heat, you don't seem much a stranger to meltdowns."

"Yeah, well-!" Daruk challenged immediately, though was quickly stopped by his own lacking wit, "Bah, you- you-…"

At that, Daruk took a finger and stroked it along his arm, creating a series of scritching, scratching sounds made from rock upon rock, its tenor undigestible, yet still holding some sort of pattern to it. Almost proud of himself, Daruk took a finger and yanked down his eyelid while throwing his tongue out toward Revali. For his part, the Rito simply watched with narrow eyes, disgusted by the wholly unrecognizable display.

"How can you seriously wish to insult me when I don't even know what it is you are doing?" Revali wondered lightly, not encumbered in the least by such a quandary.

Daruk cracked a smile, "Ancient Goron language, developed when we were still within the mantle of Hyrule's earthen soil. No light, no sight, no speech; we had to make do with what we had to communicate. If I must translate for your _feeble_ mind…"

He readied himself, only to flinch at the final moment, turning to Link, "Uh, there are ladies here…"

Urbosa scoffed at the notion, smirking while Link shrugged, "So? Just whisper it into my ear and I'll say it. Urbosa can hold Zelda's ears shut."

"I beg your pardon?!" Zelda exclaimed, suddenly whipping around toward the others.

Slightly surer of himself, Daruk nodded, leaning over to offer the translated words to Link himself. He cupped his mouth just for safety's sake, though Mipha couldn't help but lean closer, her curiosity winning her over, though she immediately flinched backward as Link pulled away in terror.

"WOOOOAH!" Link cried out aloud, wholly taken aback.

Daruk chuckled, his upper body bounding back and forth jovially as though immensely proud of himself, "Not bad, huh?"

"Even _I_ wouldn't say that to him," Link assured, raising his arms with incredulity, "How could I ever hope to _speak_ to anybody after allowing that past my lips?"

The Goron gleefully shrugged, still intensely proud, "Well, perhaps one day, if Revali truly gets underneath my skin."

Revali eyed him with disdain, though not offering much of anything else in reply, allowing Daruk his moment in the spotlight, even if it was of his own creation. Studying the horizon, Urbosa slowly raised a hand as if to get everyone's attention.

"Insults or not, keep your eyes out. There's a sandstorm brewing."

Grumbling, Revali complained, "Another wonderful perk of this desert, no doubt."

"Actually, I do hear good things about sand storms and the Gorons," Zelda surmised with a studious tone.

Daruk nodded surely, "Exfoliation is necessary for athletes, particularly those who curl up and race down the mountain."

"Maybe so, but this isn't just a small one. It's a formidable one, from the looks of it," Urbosa noted with a darkened breath, "I believe it would be best to prepare sooner than later."

Zelda nodded, "I agree. Luckily, Urbosa thought this one through as well."

Preemptive in her attentiveness, Urbosa had already began pulling an immense length of cord from her pack, showing it off to everybody to mixed reaction as she explained, "Tie yourselves in line so that we don't lose one another."

Both Link and Revali's brows furrowed, the former replying, "Wait, seriously?"

"Is there a problem?" Urbosa questioned.

Shrugging, Link answered, "I mean, this is the kind of thing they do to kids at school to keep them in line."

Urbosa smirked, "You don't have some sort of little boy syndrome, do you?"

"N-No!" Link assured nervously, "It's just a sandstorm; I can handle myself."

"I don't doubt that. That's not what we're preventing here."

Link shrugged, "I'm not even a _part_ of this group; so what if I turn up separated?"

Studying his face, Urbosa's eyes narrowed as a droll frown stretched across her face, her arms curling as they crossed her chest. Daruk had happily accepted not only the cord, but the lead position, already helping Zelda tie the next section of cord around her own waist.

"Well," Urbosa mused, "If you don't, who will protect the Princess?"

Reminded of his mandate, Link frowned, sulkingly trudging toward the others after relinquishing his resistance, "You're mean…"

Urbosa smirked humorously, turning toward Revali next as her hands rested atop her hips, "Well?"

The Rito threw his hands up, beginning toward the linking group, "Don't bother, I'll entertain your petty machinations. I'd hate to know what your confidence is founded upon."

"I like to think I'm pretty good at reading people," Urbosa assured as she joined up, "Daruk, good, we'll need a solid anchor up front. Zelda and Mipha go next, then myself; if either of them go flying, I'll release my bonds and snatch them out of the air. After thank, Link and Revali, you two-"

"The Hylian goes next," Revali dryly ordered, shaking his head, "It'll allow me to take the longest possible stretch of cord between myself and him."

Link peered over his shoulder, "I look forward to dragging your plucked-naked body across the sands."

"You _would_ like that, I'm sure," Revali declared with a miffed voice, something of a timbre hiding within his voice.

The Company formed up, with Revali ultimately remaining quite a ways away from the others, though still bound at the hip. Urbosa examined the others, yanking at the cord to test its steadiness while keeping an eye on the approaching sandstorm.

"Now, keep your heads down and your eyes shut. Except for Daruk, of course; you just keep trudging toward the cliffs," Urbosa instructed.

The Goron gave an unceremonious thumbs up, "First the Zora, now you all! The Gorons might as well be porters extraordinaire!"

Link and Mipha shared an unsure glance while Urbosa shook her head lowly, "Just- Aim for the cliffs."

"Aye aye," Daruk replied much more seriously, confidence lining his voice as he stomped off.

As the Company marched forward, Urbosa couldn't help but mutter under her breath with only Zelda in earshot, "These are so rare this time of year…"

Zelda turned to Urbosa with an uncertain expression as the two pressed on, the Company more resembling a chain gang than a troupe of Champions. Daruk gritted his teeth with determination as the massive, billowing cloud of sand approached, grumbling to himself as though in incantation, summoning strength from out within the nether.

"Here it is!" he shouted as the cloud of dirt blew into their faces, not nearly as forceful as they'd expected.

Link felt the resistance of churning winds blowing him backwards, nearly losing his footing if not for the line towed by Daruk keeping him in place. He looked ahead, catching only a faint glimpse of Zelda in front of Urbosa. Mipha and Daruk's existence now belonged merely to the line of cable disappearing into the dust cloud. Heeding Urbosa's advice, he lowered his head once again, sure to keep a hand in front of his head as he pressed on, goaded by the tow line yanking him forward with Daruk's every step.

"YEEEEAAAAAAAAGGGGGGH!" Daruk roared overtop the billowing winds lapping at their ears.

Link's hand grasped at the tow cable in front of him, pulling himself along, his eyes shut while simply willing himself to continue along with only that line for guidance. The sands swirling around them noticeably began to heighten in intensity, globules of stone and mud accompanying the sands, pelting Link's body like punches whenever a particularly large mass of earth smashed into him.

"BWAAAAR!" came another growl from Daruk, the Goron struggling to press against the furious winds, the Company slowing as he faced ever-increasing resistance.

Link lifted his head, carefully peering forward in inquiry, wondering what might have been hindering the-

HMMMMMMMMMMMGH

A massive, dull, mechanical hum broke the air, sending Link's eyes wide open in shock, still with a hand shielding his face. He turned to Urbosa, the Gerudo's shoulders suddenly squaring up in concern, her head whipping around to stare at Link with the same fear he'd had on his face. He turned in the direction where Vah Naboris had once been, finding nothing beyond the blanket of dirt, dust, and-

HMMMMMMMMMMMGH!

His eyes lifted to find two distinct clouds of blue light emerging from within the sand storm. His hand gripped the line tighter in worry, knowing what was to come next as-

THWOOOM!

A magnificent trembling shook the earth below as a gigantic foot slammed into the ground nearby, nearly knowing the entire Company to the ground. Urbosa quickly unshackled herself from the line, trudging back toward Link with an outstretched arm, yelling as loud as she could over the impeding storm.

"We can't advance like this! She'll crush us!"

Link turned over his shoulder, Revali having long been lost to the storm behind him, save for the constant tugging at the line beyond Link's hip, "Do we turn back?!"

"We must!" Urbosa declared, "If that thing starts shooting off lightning, at this proximity, I haven't a clue how well this helm can protect us!"

Link eyed her, "You said it would work!"

"It's a helmet! Not a goddamn miracle device!" Urbosa angrily challenged, "I'll make my way up to Daruk and let the others-!"

THWOOOOOM!

A closer stomping of innumerable tons of machine sent Link to the ground, leaving Urbosa only swaying back and forth before helping him back up. She turned to trudge up the line, yanking on it as hard as she could while she walked, trying to signal something, anything, to Daruk, to no avail. Her hair billowed in the wind as Link watched her press on, the taut feeling at the line behind him suddenly catching his interest. He turned back around in curiosity; it was almost as if Revali had cut himself free, leaving no pull behind Link, though in a split second, the shadowing form of a Rito blew through the clouds, Revali coursing through the sandstorm only to slide into the ground, unable to accurately gain any traction in the air.

Link watched as Revali forced himself back up, gritting his teeth as he turned toward the Hylian, scoffing with a shaking head, "Watch me, Hylian! Be in awe of my mastery of even _this_ sky!"

Link's eyes widened, noticing that Revali was still tethered to the others. The Rito began throwing his arms up and down, working his way back up into the air as Link quickly scurried for his blade to cut the mad bird away from dragging the others every which way. At that moment, Urbosa voice broke through, catching him off guard.

"Stupid bird! The lightning will fry him to a crisp!" she cried out pithily.

Link's mind churned for only a moment, rushing up to where Urbosa was still progressing further along the line, yanking at the line to gain her attention and ultimately earning her pause.

"What?!" she shouted.

Link hadn't time to reply, simply taking his sword and slicing through the cord that had become his lifeline within the storm, but to Urbosa's horror, "What in the name of the gods are you doing?!"

A quick glance while tying the cord between him and Revali to his waist, Link quickly jolted a hand out and grasped the Thunder Helm dangling from around Urbosa's shoulder, the Gerudo immediately throwing her arms out to grapple Link before he could slide away, thanks to Revali's movement pulling him along.

"You fool!" she shouted angrily, though with some even keel through which some amount of respect for the man rested, "That hasn't touched the head of-!"

He voice trailed off as Link started running atop the desert sands, feeling his waist constrict with Revali's ever pulse of flapping wings. The cord began to rise as the Rito progressed higher still, eventually lifting Link from the ground as Vah Naboris grew in visibility, the blue lights surrounding its legs bursting through the grimy sands swirling around him. Link deftly pulled the Helm up to his chest, quickly wrapping the cord that had been freed between him and Urbosa around one of its horns. He eyed the space above him, where Revali must have been, his eyes burning as the sand blew into his face, lips tightening painfully, knowing he couldn't keep his eyes closed for what stupid action he was about to take.

As Revali took the two of them higher, Link's weight potentially masquerading as the storm's resistance itself, Link carefully watched the two massive bulbs of smoky blue light from atop Vah Naboris, the energy there beginning to collect into pools of sickly purple hues. Link gritted his teeth, the contracting rope at his waist seeming to be slicing him in half as he grabbed the cord with both hands, swinging the Thunder Helm in circles, preparing to throw it up toward Revali with the hope of countering the bolt of lightning meant for the Rito's foreign body.

The clouds of energy pulsed, the engines of the Beast revving up as Link readied himself, trying his best to work out the trajectory before-

HMMMMMMMMMMMGH!

A bolt of electricity shot out from the twin bulbs atop the Beast, shooting straight for where Revali must have been hidden within the sandstorm, leaving Link panicked as he took the Helm for another few rounds before letting it loose, the cord flying through the air as the Helm launched, losing itself in the sandstorm itself. Link watched in horror as the blue beams of electricity failed to leave their course, flying at Revali with reckless abandon, hitting their-

At the last moment, the bolts of lightning almost magnetically spun away, slamming into the Thunder Helm and sending that end of cord straight to the ground where Link began to tow it in as Revali seemed to reach the bottommost platform of the Beast, leaving Link dangling off the side, but with enough deftness to pull himself up once the Thunder Helm was once again safely in his possession. He took a moment to sigh with exhaustion as the sandstorm began to dissipate, almost as though in defeat as Vah Naboris accepted the visitors. Link jumped as he felt a tug pulling him up, Revali doing him the honor of helping him ascend, much to the relief of Link's newly aching muscles.

"You idiot!" Revali cried out, "I'd've made unmentionable time had I not been bound by you!"

Link peered upward at him, "_I'm_ the idiot?! You'd have been fried chicken if not for me!"

"The great god, Witwa, requires no Hylian to perform his will, you imbecile!" Revali challenged as Link pulled himself aboard, slidding across the oddly textured floor, unable to work himself up to his feet, "His will allowed me to-"

"Or it was _this_?!" Link argued, dropping the Thunder Helm to the ground as he rolled onto his back, "I swear… I didn't sign up for this."

Revali fell to his backside as well, sitting against one of the ornaments lining the contraptions that made up the Divine Beast, "I signed up for nothing of the sort, either, Hylian. Had I known-"

"Had you known a Hylian would've had to save your ass?!" Link challenged, shaking his head, "Just- I have a rope in my pack. Tie it down and let the others climb up. I can't feel my legs."

"Pah, a truly Hylian setiment," Revali frowned before returning to his feet and doing as he was told.

Before collecting the rope, he stood above Link, staring off into the distance with a frown, allowing Link to watch him with confusion as he recovered, unsure what was causing Revali's sudden inaction. Ever so slowly, it became apparent.

"Thanks, I suppose…" Revali offered with a hot breath, quickly swooping down to collect Link's pack and walking off forcefully, shaking his head distastefully at such an utterance.

Link watched, still lost in deepening breaths, as Revali did as he'd instructed, leaving him with a cautious sigh before replying in kind, "You're welcome, I guess. No more stupid crap, though."


	15. The First Divine Beast, Vah Naboris

**_A/N: So this is the first point in the story where I'm really tinkering with the lore behind BotW, simply because the canon version offers more questions than answers- if you'd like a more detailed rundown, you can check out my Twitter, but beyond that, enjoy the chapter! :D_**

* * *

Link collapsed back to the metallic strut as the last of the Company, Daruk, ascended, needing the whole collective might of the other Champions to adequately pull him up the great height. With quick attentiveness, Mipha scurried to his side, though he was quick to wave her off.

"I'm fine, really," he assured, weakly, keeping a pressured hold atop his waist, "Nothing a month long bruise won't handle."

Revali cocked his head upward, "Pah, such an arrogant statement, to be sure."

Groaning, Urbosa returned dolly, "Like you wouldn't be in the same state were the roles reversed."

"I was destined to bear the wings of my people! There wouldn't ever be any roles to be reversed!" Revali easily retorted.

"Then you'd just invent some reason why succumbing to your injuries is the 'Way of the Witwiki' or whatever," Urbosa grumbled.

Revali's feathers curled distasteful, "_Witwa_, you dolt. You'd best respect our gods, lest they make themselves known in the most discomforting of ways."

The two of them continued rambling as Mipha knelt down beside Link, to his shock, placing her hand atop his stomach where his had been resting. He watched her hand there for a moment, her red and white scales so contrasting with the light green cloth covering him, unable to keep his eyes from peering up toward her face for long, catching her eyes closed in such serenity, lips trembling in near-empty speech.

A brittle sort of warmth emerged beneath her hand, catching Link off guard as he returned his attention to her clutch, her hand now glowing a gentle golden hue. While he couldn't examine his skin, he could tell that his bruise was being soothed from existence, if only by so much. His head bolted up as Mipha let free the smallest of giggles, smiling in return.

"I told you years ago, I would allow nothing to harm you," Mipha confirmed softly, nearly whispering, "It might have been a promise between two young beings, but it was a promise nonetheless."

Link eyed her with curiosity, as if he'd had trouble recalling the promise she was citing, though he put on a confident face, inferring enough already that such a promise, however spur of the moment between children, was a rather magnanimous thing indeed.

"Thanks," he spoke up.

She smiled, "Feel any better? I'm afraid magic can only do so much when it comes to bruising ."

"Oh no, it's much better," Link nodded, suddenly feeling a pang of discomfort at the realization of just how intimate a setting the two of them were currently, silently thrilled that Urbosa and Revali were currently stealing the spotlight from the two of them, "Thanks. really."

Hoping his flat addition to his thanks would subtly request Mipha's departure, lest the two become the subject of someone's, mostly Daruk's, teasing, Link allowed a wave of relief over him as Mipha nodded, still smiling a bright lit smile as she stood back up, readying her trident that had fallen to the ground in her helpful surge. Helping Link to his feet, the two turned back to the others just as Zelda had finished breaking up the bicker-off between the most headstrong two of the Company.

"Alright, alright; you're _both_ idiots if that's what it takes to even out this mess!" Zelda complained, "Now, we're here for a reason, on a surface tread upon by nobody in nearly a millennia. We're not about to squander this opportunity."

Revali nodded, spreading his arms in a bow, "Ah yes; let us never forget which of us made such a scare opportunity possible in the first place."

Frowning, Zelda muttered, "Look, I'm about five minutes from-"

"Entering scholar mode, yes," Link finished for her, earning him a glib stare from the Princess.

"Its _not_ a mode- I-" Zelda quickly groaned, taking a pause to ready her words, "Don't you all realize just how magnificent this is? We're standing atop a machination of the most ancient of people, so vastly more advanced than ourselves. Think of the opportunity they hoped- _prayed_ would be bestowed onto us."

Daruk dug his fists into his hips, nodding dramatically, "She does speak the truth! Quite the eloquent one she is, as well!"

Suddenly embarrassed, Zelda covered her face, "I- I'm not-"

With the warmth of a Goron, melted into tenderness, Daruk patted her shoulder, laughing boisterously, "Now is no time for shame. It is time for research, as you said! Seeing a Divine Beast this close- it _does_ fill me with curiosity about Death Mountain's own creature of machine."

Zelda peeked out from her hands. It was as Daruk proclaimed: the time for curiosity, not embarrassment. She cleared her throat, digging into her satchel and pulling out her Shiekah Slate, much to the awe of some within the Company.

Handing it to Link, she instructed, "Alright. You are to follow me and record notes. Understood?"

Link shook his head, "No? I'm not even a part-"

"You're job is to protect me, correct?" Zelda asked with a wry smirk, "Then you must protect my thoughts and observations from leaving me."

The Knight narrowed his eyes, peering suddenly toward Urbosa, who'd done much the same not one hour ago, before grabbing the slate and frowning, "You two really are mean for doing that, you know."

Zelda smirked proudly anyway, patting her hands together before turning down the length of the strut that hung from the bottom of Vah Naboris, "Okay Champions. We explore now and ascertain this Beast's functions, capabilities, everything. Most importantly, we must find a way to manipulate this creature, should we need to."

"Like a pilot?" Mipha asked sincerely.

Zelda nodded, "Something like that. According to legend, these Beasts were used by the Sheikah to confront the most ancient of evils before being left to the primitive beings of the world. Some scholars assert that the Divine Beasts were created _for_ the four peoples of Hyrule, but I believe it's the other way around. I believe the races of Hyrule came into their own as a result of the Beasts' presence- that is, your people were evolved for the Beasts, not the Beasts created for you."

Frowning at such an esoteric thought, Daruk stroked his beard, "Hold on. I'm confused."

"Just think about it," Zelda asserted easily, "The Sheikah couldn't have possibly known who that the Zora would sprout from those Lanayru waters. But they left Vah Ruta there, hoping that its life-giving properties would prove fertile for a race of beings who would one day be destined for its reigns. Same with the Gerudo, the Rito, and Gorons."

She nodded toward the Zora among them, "So who better than Mipha to pilot Vah Ruto? She has the eyes of a thousand generations upon her- countless years of understanding of that Beast that has bred her very people."

"Same with Urbosa and this Beast here," Zelda explained further, "My hypothesis is that, while they might resemble one another from a technological angle, there's something more to them, perhaps a fail-safe of some sort, that only their respective representative can keep in check. An energy field of something."

Still rather miffed, Daruk bowed his head, unable to make heads or tails on what was being said, though Urbosa was quick to offer up her own questions, running her hand along the ornate material covering the Beasts' interior, "So, what, how do we figure this out? I mean, I'm not about to blindly drive this thing into Gerudo Town, am I?"

"Well, that's the thing," Zelda confessed quietly, thoughtfully gripping her chin, "I mean, that's the whole point of this, correct? Learning how these things work, to begin with. but if the Sheikah truly expected such primitive beings to one day helm these Beasts, I'm sure a people as knowledgeable, and full of foresight, as them wouldn't make it terribly difficult to understand."

She began strolling down the strut that would ultimately lead up into the insides of the Beast, still in awe over the twisting, winding view of the desert surrounding her, "Let's just begin by making observations. Studying 101."

Daruk turned to Link, who was sliding a pocketbook from his satchel, lips curled unsatisfactorily at the idea of his knighthood having lead him to notation, the Goron sighing, "Man, you're lucky the Hylians don't have to worry about these things…"

"Oh, I'm sure we'll have plenty more to worry about, don't worry," Link groaned, "All those excavations to find so much Sheikah technology caused a massive uproar to begin with. I can only imagine what might happen if Zelda stumbles upon some new venture that drains the public stores. The reason Akkala's loyalty to Hyrule grew tense in the first place was that they were losing out on luxuries due to the excavations. It's how my father died."

Daruk frowned, eyes wide in realization, "S- I'm sorry, brother."

"It's no big deal," Link assured with a shrug, "I'm just hoping she knows what she's truly getting into is all. Zelda thinks this is all leading to a single end, but there's a million other repercussions to consider."

Urbosa charged in, her voice fierce, "Watch your words, knight. Your Princess is wise beyond her years. She understands what she's doing, as do I. The lives of so few living now is nothing compared to the innumerable lives left to walk this world who've yet to come."

"Easy for you to say," Link suddenly challenged, "Your family wasn't a part of those who died."

Readying his pack, slung over his shoulder, Link chewed at his lip, burying his head low before trudging along to catch up to Zelda, muttering quietly as he passed Urbosa, "Sorry."

She shrugged, "I understand. Just know that I consider my people to be my family. I wouldn't wish any harm on them, or anybody else, for that matter."

Link made his way after Zelda, out of earshot as the other Champions prepared to follow along as well. The downtrodden atmosphere lingered for only a moment before Urbosa turned to the others, crossing her arms and declaring rightly.

"Alright, perk up. We've got a Beast to figure out, and I've to learn how to drive it, apparently," she ended unsurely.

Revali cocked his head to the side, "Such an advantage you have with four legs. Vah Medoh will prove to be far more challenging a venture; no wonder we Rito strove to better ourselves to such massive aspirations!"

With a wry smirk, Urbosa retorted, "Best be on your guard, then. You won't have anyone to save if you crash the thing into your little stone tower over in Tabantha."

"How droll," Revali concluded sarcastically, following along as the Champions carried on atop the truss beneath Vah Naboris.

* * *

"Marvelous!" exclaimed Zelda as she further galivanted around the massive terminal that sat within the belly of Vah Naboris, "Absolutely exquisite! The thought, the planning-! I mean, it looks just like a shrine, doesn't it?!"

Examining it himself, with far less enthusiasm, Link shrugged, "I mean, I suppose?"

"It's just breathtaking! The amount of ingenuity that went into-! The Sheikah created an entire empire, and from the get go, they made everything so uniform!" Zelda observed, "Almost as if they were thinking ahead a millennia from their very inception! We don't deserve them!"

Link watched with waned enthusiasm as Zelda returned to the front of the device, whipping out her Sheikah Slate and matching it to the relief that sat inside the mechanism, "A perfect fit! See?! It's almost as if they made it easy for us! Everything of theirs is just so organized and makes sense!"

Warily so, Link scribbled down the words 'makes sense' on his small pad of paper, curling his lips faintly as Daruk's voice rang out from another end of the Beast's interior, "HEEEEY! WE FOUND ANOTHER ONE!"

"Another?" Zelda muttered in awe, "That's three total terminals so far, along with that massive one up front! So, let's speculate."

Link nodded sarcastically.

"We already know that all the shrines are connected, right? Ley lines beneath the ground. So, knowing what we know about how uniform the Sheikah seemed to be- What if all of these are connected?! Maybe all we do is get these smaller terminals up and running and then control them from the main terminal!"

She hurried to place the slate into the terminal, but to no avail, Zelda's lips still trembling excitedly, "Oh, the thought of it all! How exciting! Not a single textbook ever mentioned _any_ of this, you know?!"

The wind surrounding the two of them broke open as Revali spun down from the ceiling, letting lose a unkempt gust before landing beside the two Hylians, "It is as Urbosa surmised. There is another terminal up on one of its columns."

"Four, then!" Zelda exclaimed, "Four! Gah lee, this is so incredible!"

Link noted aloud, "You're using your research diction again."

She frowned at the reemergence of a habit meant to have been broken, though Zelda still remained plastered to the console before her, unable to take her eyes off the thing. Revali gave a scrutinizing glance, musing aloud quietly in his curiosity.

"So you believe these machinations to be similar?"

"Absolutely," Zelda replied with a nod, "These stations seem to be a power grid, though I haven't the faintest how to activate them. I would postulate that each Divine Beast has a similar power grid within them; it's just a matter of activating them and, I would assume, wrangling control from the giant terminals that I would also believe to be within each Beast."

Revali crossed his arms, "For all our attempts at investigating Vah Medoh, we haven't caught the faintest glimpse of any such thing."

"What's keeping you, if I might ask?" Zelda inquired sincerely.

A curious clicking cane from the Rito's beak, "For all Vah Medoh does to assist us when it comes to wind currents, as well as cross pollination and the like, the Beast doesn't seem to enjoy being scrutinized by the people it watches over. Any attempt to rise and meet her only incurs the furious winds of Vah Medoh, preventing much of any interaction beyond prayers and smoke offerings."

Link rolled his eyes, "And we thought this camel of a Beast was terrible to ascend to…"

Smirking, Revali guaranteed, "You'll need far more ingenuity, dear Princess, if you wish for this task to reach its conclusion. Beyond the ease of Vah Ruta, as well, where your biggest obstacle will be the Zora oligarchy, you have Vah Rudania, the lizard-like being skittering around like a bug within the volcanic depths of Death Mountain."

Zelda sighed, dropping her head as her excitement left her, "Well, I certainly didn't _mean_ for it to be known that I meant for us to explore Vah Naboris first, simply due to how perilous the others appear. Still, I am up for the challenge, most assuredly!"

"Besides," she went on, triumphantly, lifting a valiant fist into the air, "It seems as though the Sheikah were looking out for us! There must be a way to tame even your mechanical bird."

Revali nodded smugly, "Well, to perform such a feat would mark you greater than the greatest Rito to have attempted to board such a Beast. I suppose if you Hylians _are_ descendants of the Sheikah, I suppose you _might_ have an advantage."

Hiding a coy smirk at having something of a compliment blessed upon her by the headstrong Revali, Zelda went of examining the device as the others returned from their exploration, turning up nothing but the five terminals already having been discovered. Daruk had taken to shaking steps, having considered how high up they were and was quickly overwhelmed, though he had progressed considerably ever since he'd simply been seated, refusing to even stand. Urbosa and Mipha followed behind him, the latter of which quickly gave her report.

"We scoped out another terminal, however, it's atop Vah Naboris' head," Mipha concluded hopefully, "Were there any up above?"

Link replied as he continued his notation, diligently, "Yes, just one. That's a total of five terminals and a main line one."

"Oh! Did you draw a diagram?!" Zelda asked in a furious haste, earning her a piercing stare as Link's eyes peered overtop his notepad.

Nodding, he replied simply, "Of course. Where exactly was it?"

"Just underneath its head, it seems," Urbosa answered, stroking the dip of skin just beneath her chin, "I've seen it before, but didn't really think anything of it, honestly."

Mipha approached Link peevishly, sidling closer to him as she examined his handywork, finding a rather impressive looking diagram of the Beast, with each terminal pointed out in detail. Her eyes rested there pensively, her body not moving for long enough that she snapped awake, realizing how odd she appeared, and she pointed toward the diagram after Link's eyes had returned from their curious glance toward her.

"Uhm… Right about there," she spoke up quietly.

Link nodded, circling in the general area beneath Vah Naboris' head, "Alright, that should be all of them, then."

"H-Have we need of anything else here?" Daruk questioned skeptically, his trembling ever apparent.

For a moment, Zelda remained still, her lips curling inward thoughtfully before slowly allowing her head to dip up and down, "…yes, I suppose. I mean, there's obviously a power supply that is not the same as the supply powering the Beasts' movement, but-… I think, now, it would be beneficial to see how they're all similar. Especially since they seem to follow the same design, roughly- perhaps we'll figure something out with a different one. We've figured out so much with this one alone, though!"

At her words, Link slowly pulled his hand toward his chest, trying to conceal the notepad there before Revali clucked distastefully, charging a shout toward the knight, "Hey now; she's right, isn't she? Reveal it all to us, you mere scribe!"

A frown stretching across his face, Link grumbled silently to himself, shaking his head as he pulled his notepad back up, clearing his throat before going on, "Similar to shrines. Five terminals. One biggun."

"Biggun..?" Revali questioned with a haughty sort of curious air.

Zelda shuddered, recognizing one of those words often muttered during her 'phase', though without missing a beat, Link seemed all too prepared to take even a social hit for her, "Don't get riled up over your insufficiency of the finer points of Hylian."

"Tsh! For shame, scribe!" Revali darted back, "I'll have you know, my language comprehension is second to none! This 'biggun' you speak of- it is nothing of note!"

Urbosa shrugged, "I don't know; it came across perfectly clear to me."

Checking himself, Revali peered over toward Urbosa before dropping the matter, shrugging to himself before trudging off, leaving Daruk the open air to let loose his impatient, "D-Does that mean we can get off this- thing..? I fear my joint will turn into fault lines at this rate."

"Nah, you've done great so far," confirmed Urbosa, patting his arm, "You're not even clutching the columns for dear life anymore."

Daruk shuddered, "No, but I want to…"

Taking a quick breath, a nod came across Zelda as she replied, "I suppose we've gotten as much as we can glean so far, especially given that this is our first Divine Beast. There's so much more to learn, but- So long as Urbosa stands amongst her people, we won't have much issue in returning if need be."

Urbosa nodded, a worrisome glance toward Mipha, "Especially with a Zora present; it might be time to head on back. Judging by Vah Naboris' trajectory, we're just crossing the dune between Kara Kara and the entrance to the desert, anyway."

"Such a helpful creature!" Daruk sighed with relief.

Revali retorted, "Or perhaps it's simply sending us a message to leave it be and get out."

"If there _is_ any trouble-," Urbosa grinned, patting her Thunder Helm before nodding toward Link, "Your recklessness is ill-placed sometimes, but at least you take some reservations. For that, I thank you for keeping this treasure untarnished."

Link shrugged, "I was just-"

"You know, for somebody with no investment in this venture, you sure do seem to contribute quite a bit," teased Urbosa with a wry grin.

Only a pithy glance met her.


	16. Bound By Duty, Chained By Fate

Daruk continued lifting handfuls of sand and spilling the endless supply of earthen material overtop his head, gasping happily at the prospect of being one with the earth once again. Being atop such an inorganic construction, as much as he was terrified of heights, he was also met with a sense of dread at being unable to feet the pulse of the land of Hyrule beneath his feet, a feeling that often quelled the cries of the youngest among his people. The sand itself was therapeutic in itself, and Mipha watched with amusement, though she was also transfixed by such an action that would have only thoroughly abbraised her own skin. Revali looked on with disgust, turning his head to prevent himself from further viewing the vile act.

"Can you please cut it out?" Revali asked impatiently, "Just knowing you're doing that is giving my feathers the quivers."

Daruk smiled, "I've seen birds clean themselves with sand before."

"Those lesser birds, perhaps; they haven't a sense of decency, which, seemingly, also applies to _you_," Revali complained.

Zelda turned with a worried look, though Daruk simply laughed Revali's words off, "Fear not; I've gotten used to his brash nature by now. I've already ascertained that it's just how he decides to be friends."

"Pfft- Wha-?! _Friends_?!" Revali challenged with a suddenly perplexed expression of fright, "You just bathed in sand, treaded upon by the _multitudes_ of feet and-! Gah! The thought of it- The _nerve_!"

Revali's shoulders fell inward as he squirmed in disgust, only leaving Daruk to laugh, raising his arms in a mighty shrug, "I suppose you wouldn't understand; there's nothing quite like feeling anchored to Hyrule itself. These lands sat here for millenia, even before Farore's breath of the wild covered these lands; it's as though I'm so much closer to that primordial goo that I'm sure was so nice and toasty…"

"Goo…" Revali reacted with disdain, "Yech…"

Grinning widely at the effect he was having, Daruk shrugged pithily, curling his lips in anticipation before going on, "Nothing beats a mud bath, though. Especially in the geyser pits- Link, my sworn brother, even you partook, did you not?"

Quickly catching onto Daruk's game, Link agreed easily, "You mean the one with the oozy sort of grimy mud?"

"Yes!" Daruk laughed, "You'd been so intensely covered- We couldn't tell you from another Goron! Well, perhaps a younger Goron with less stone on your hide."

Link turned to Mipha, catching her hiding a laugh behind a hand, shooting her a wink, "The Zora are the masters of ooey gooey though, right?"

"Please!" Revali shouted, "Knock it off!"

Amusedly enough, Mipha nodded with a half-broken giggle, "Oh, if you thought the gekari gel was potent- we have the most viscous, slide into your pores-"

"GAH!" Revali cried out loud, turning to the others with his beak nearly in a tizzy, "By the grace of Witwa alone am I holding back my plumage! Cut it out!"

The three troublemakers shared a laugh as Revali covered his head with his arms, shaking himself back and forth in withdrawal, muttering to himself, "Gah; the stuff of nightmares…"

"Alright, everyone," Urbosa commanded, waving a dismissive hand, "It's been a long day for us all; just cool it down a bit. We'll make camp right at the desert's entrance, where we were last time, alright?"

The others, besides Revali, agreed affirmatively while Urbosa took a deep breath, taking in the day's events, never dreaming she would be aboard the Divine Beast who'd been so familiar to the Gerudo, and yet, so incredibly foreign. It seemed so much a microcosm of the Sheikah themselves- wholly foreign, and yet their continued influence within the world remained inexplicably familiar to the peoples of Hyrule.

"So, I suppose it needed to be brought up at some point," Daruk suddenly spoke up with a curious tone, "Where to next?"

As though she hadn't given it much thought at all, Zelda bowed her head in thought, scratching her head, "W-Well… I suppose for geography's sake, Tabantha _is_ closer. Though, as Revali has said, I'm note sure we're ready for that. Besides Tabantha, I suppose Lanayru would be the next logical step, would it not?"

Frowning, Mipha spoke up, "I suppose it would be easy to think such a thing, but- Vah Ruta is not merely revered, but worshipped. Even if I were to convince my father to allow us access, I'm not entirely sure my people would be privy to such an action."

"How do you mean?" Zelda wondered aloud.

Mipha took a breath, "Vah Ruta is not merely a machine that spews water. It quite literally _creates_ water. Not only are you talking about what might as well be hallowed ground, you're talking potential contamination, and given the makeup of this Company, you're also teetering on racial conflict. Hylians, alone…"

Link watched curiously as Mipha's voice fell out of existence, her head dipping low, almost in shame, as she spoke those words. Zelda nodded in understanding, knowing that Hylian/Zora relations weren't exactly well to do, though she began to consider options to quell those tensions.

"Bah; well they've always had a problem with us Rito," Revali suddenly interjected with a sneer, "I wouldn't be shocked if they didn't allow a single footfall of mine to enter their precious water world up there."

"Mipha does have a point," Zelda noted aloud, doing her best to gather everybody's attention, "Vah Ruta would be just as difficult from a religious perspective to a political one. There's no guarantee she can earn her father's sway, thinking of the potential fallout."

Daruk crossed his arms, "So, Vah Rudania?"

Chuckling heartily, Urbosa admitted, "I don't even know if _I'm_ ready for that one, Goron, much less the others. Again, we've to think of Mipha if we are sticking to this Company. So far as I know, that's non-negotiable."

"Correct," Zelda affirmed, "If any one of us is not present, it'll only open the door for future conflict- what with people complaining about where blame or praise ought to be shared."

Daruk nodded pensively, "Perhaps, once we learn enough about these things, I may be able to pilot the Beast to a milder climate."

"That's an idea," confirmed Zelda, nodded to herself, "But again, that would leave us choosing between Ruta and Medoh."

Link's eyes narrowed as they followed the horizon, his face dropping with a droll expression, "Well, either way, you'd better make it fast… Look."

The others looked ahead toward the desert entrance, Zelda's face spinning in confusion as she noticed the distant image of Captain Ruzoll atop his horse, alongside a small battalion of horsemen. She kept a silent stare, as if unsure whether or not he was actually there, broken only by the solemnly tender voice of Mipha.

"Who's Captain Ruzoll?"

"My commanding officer," answered Link, unknowingly brushing his shirt to remove any impurities, "My orders are from King Bospheramus himself, but Captain Ruzoll's word holds just as much sway. My liege all but loaned me from his command."

Mipha gasped ponderously, knowing her father's word was all but gospel, "Whoa, he must be pretty important, then."

"Sounds like a means toward confusion to me," Urbosa observed with a smirk.

Revali rolled his shoulders, "Finally something we all can agree on. Bureaucracy amidst the Kingdom of Hyrule's ranks has always been a loathsome endeavor."

"It also has allowed us mastery over most of these lands, thank you," Link replied haughtily, proud of the heritage he was bred into.

Urbosa turned her head over her shoulder, "So you take an order from your King, to protect the Princess. What if this Ruzoll asks you to hold a sword to her n-"

"He wouldn't do that!" Zelda proclaimed nervously.

Assuredly, Urbosa chuckled, "It's merely an example to, as Revali would say, _expose the absurdity of layered administration within a martial cadre_."

His intrigue suddenly piqued, Revali's plumage fluttered," There may be hope for you yet, Gerudo."

Urbosa grinned at the compliment, turning to watch Link only to find him with a regretful look as he dropped his head, "…he wouldn't do that. They don't just pick and choose who gives orders."

"Uh huh; I understand that," Urbosa shrugged, "But if he _did_."

Link stared at the ground, a moment passing in silence before he answered, "I suppose my ties to Captain Ruzoll are to be upheld to the utmost respect."

"So you'd do it?" Mipha asked.

Chuckling, Urbosa answered for her, "Consider yourself lucky to have no like conflicts among your people. Administration is a chore, anyway."

Link chewed at his cheek, recognizing the quandary that Urbosa proposed, even if in only hypothetical terms. That said, knowing Ruzoll better than anybody else among the Company, Link understood that the man shouldn't even be here at the moment, unless sent, off assignment, by the King himself. He kept his eyed peering up ahead as Ruzoll's small party came further into view, trying to figure out what was going on.

"I wasn't aware that we could have standing armies this deep into Gerudo lands," Zelda spoke up curiously, turning toward Link, who returned with only silence.

Weighing his options for a brief few moments, while also incurring the sudden curiosity among the others, Link finally answered, "We aren't."

Urbosa shrugged, "Do they know of our venture?"

"I mean, well- sort of?" Zelda answered unsurely, "My father seems apprehensive about letting word of this mission slip… Probably ashamed of his daughter's potential to ruin his reputation."

Daruk grumbled in reply, "Well that's just silly! We've learned so much from this one venture alone!"

"That's just my interpretation, anyway," Zelda admitted, "Ruzoll caught us before we all met at the Sanadin Park to bring me the slate, but- Father had only told him we were cataloguing flora and fauna. It seems he'd rather I chase flowers than legends."

"Can you not blame him?" Revali shrugged, "The leader of the Kingdom of Hyrule already rules on a teetering slope. With such vast territory and influence, your Kingdom persistently gains the ire of many, if not all, radical factions around the lands. The Yiga and Afeigu, to name only two of the Sheikah factions; and I know the Corsairs, among my own tribe, represent a rather radical war-hawking perspective. Were they to believe the King was off on flights of fancy, or worse, an arms race, that might give them better reason to rally support beneath the banner of his inability to continue leading."

Urbosa frowned, "Doesn't help that a warmonger King scorched these lands not a few generations ago."

"Th-This is all speculation, of course," Zelda assured the others, although with a nervous sort of uncertainty, "Perhaps Ruzoll was awaiting our return so that they could give us a rest. I mean, they did bring plenty of horses from the looks of it."

Link caught Urbosa's worrisome glance aimed toward him, aiming a particularly dreadful look of his own back toward her. Whatever the case might be, Link knew already that it wasn't to be anything good, thankful that Urbosa was not reactionary enough to turn whatever it might be into an incident that couldn't be returned from.

"Ruzoll!" Zelda shouted as they closed the gap, doing her best to lace her shaky timbre with the same happiness that had once accompanied her in greeting the man.

The Captain nodded in acknowledgement, though failed to reply in kind, leaving the Company even more mournful.

"Gah," Revali groaned, dropping his face into his hand, "One more obstacle to keep us in these dry lands even longer…"

Zelda was quick to interject, "No, wait! He's always on the stern side; don't read into his lack of a response! Besides-!"

She cleared her throat as she yanked her belt upward, "_I'm_ the Princess! I hate to pull rank at a time like this, but-!"

Her eyes caught Link shaking his head, silently noting to the others that, indeed, this was a power that Zelda lacked, leaving her with a frown as she insisted, "Hey, my word _should_ match my father's."

"But it doesn't," Link affirmed plainly, not in the mood to humor her.

The callous response seemed to send a pang of worry through Zelda as well, her spine tingling as she returned forward, allowing a more scrutinizing stare to meet Ruzoll's own band of armored soldiers. Finally closing in far enough for her voice to be heard at it's normal volume, Zelda hastily rounded the mound of rock that prevented cart-drawn horses from crossing the border between the desert and canyon, her voice echoing as Ruzoll's stern glare followed her.

"Ruzoll," she acknowledged cordially enough, dipping her head respectfully, "What is the meaning of this? Have you brought news from my father?"

Ruzoll's horse, Wauf, chugged in placed, whining sorrowfully in premonition as his master yanked at his reins to steady the beast, "Let's just wait until your little Company arrives as well."

"Little?" Zelda retorted in confusion, catching his condescension, "Ruzoll, this Company aspires to bring the whole of Hyrule together! This is not some-"

"I'm quite aware, child," Ruzoll interrupted with a sharp tone, quickly returning to one of instruction, "Your father told me what you're up to. After advising him, and the two of us discussing this issue at great depth, he decided this was best."

Zelda's brow furrowed worriedly, "_What_ is best..?"

Ruzoll's eyes raised up once the others rounded their way to Zelda's side, their expressions ranging from confusion to frustration to contemplation on Link's part. Yanking his reins to pull Wauf to the side, making his presence more imposing, Link understood, Ruzoll turned his head to stare down at the group of Champions.

Revali sneered, crossing his arms, "So what is this?! You've no reason to cause any impediment."

As if in challenge, Ryzoll dropped his brow in fierce resolve, "By degree of King Bospheramus Hyrule, your Company is to be escorted _back_ to Hyrule Castle to be debriefed and then dispatched back home."

"Back?!" Zelda cried in confusion, "But-!"

"You are to continue your studies in the safety of the castle's libraries, Princess," Ruzoll noted plainly, "We cannot allow your trivial adventures to reflect poorly on our Kingdom, regardless of however many notable companions you can hope to convince."

He eyed the others, namely Urbosa and Mipha, "We must ensure that they understand that you've been following what amounts to fairy tales before allowing them to return to their lands."

"Pfft," Ufbosa scoffed, her face turning distasteful atop crossed arms, "The Princess has offered more sense and understanding in any number of seconds than you've just spewed in the last few minutes."

Quickly thinking, Zelda turned to Link, stomping over toward him and slipping his pocket book from his pack, unabated, before throwing her hand up toward Ruzoll , "Look! See! Does that not look like research?!"

Ruzoll sighed, almost sadly, before reaching out and gently taking the notepad, examining it for a moment before sliding it into his armor, leaving Zelda terrified, "H-Hey!"

"_My_ King's word is law, Princess- _Your_ father's word," he instructed sternly, "You'd be best to remember that. If you continue to put your own pursuits over Hyrule's best interests, perhaps you _are_ still a child."

His dry, callous manner brought Ruzoll his desired effect, leaving Zelda wholly miffed, knowing this man to be kne of her father's most notable advisors. She dropped her head before stepping back into the line of Champions, earning Urbosa's worried glance as Revali immediately sputtered to challenge the man before them.

"Well don't just subvert yourself!" he declared toward Zelda before turning to Ruzoll with a frustrated tone, "Listen Hylian, I haven't an iota of respect for your position; your command ends as soon as you leave this earth! Now, I've spent enough time amongst these questionable individuals to warrant my waxing interest in completing this quest, and I'm _not_ about to allow you to stand in our way!"

Ruzoll stared Revali down without a moment's hesitation, one of his soldiers openly jeering, "We've done been briefed 'bout you, bastard bird. Hold your beak to the ground and shut it!"

In a blink of an eye, Revali charged toward the soldier, with Ruzoll's voice shouting in untempered command, "Link!"

Before Revali could close the distance, Link sprang toward him, grappling his arm and yanking him backward, earning the vitriolic ire of the Rito, Revali's words spewing like a venomous snake, "I will peck out your very eyes if you do not release me!"

Link remained unfazed, simply pulling Revali into his chest and sharing an intense stare, as though trying to communicate something silently to the unkempt man. Ruzoll grumbled to himself before turning atop his saddle, barking at his men.

"Please do not antagonize them. When you wear that Crest upon your breast, your very words and actions are tied to our Kingdom just as well," Ruzoll ordered, shaking his head in distaste, "Link, take care to ensure this Rito doesn't cause any trouble."

Nodding, Link immediately answered, "Yes sir."

Revali huffed angrily as Link released him, though remained at his side even as the Rito shot him a terrible stare. Mipha looked on with worry as Daruk grabbed her shoulder, more to remind himself not to cause a fuss as well. He gritted his teeth at Link's subservience, though understood his brother's situation all the same, choosing to remain benign himself, lest he cause more trouble for the man.

Ruzoll spun Wauf around, beginning off toward the canyon as he finished, "This should be a pleasant enough journey should you all come willingly. That said, I haven't a problem binding the lot of you, if need be. I don't want any more trouble than any of you do."

"Sounds like the only trouble has been manufactured by _your_ King," Urbosa challenged pithily, earning a glare from Ruzoll himself.

Ruzoll stretched his shoulders backward, "I know enough of your penchant for trouble. You'll be the first to feel the steel of our cuffs, I have no doubt."

Knowing he was merely showing off for his men, Urbosa snickered, taking the compliment that she was more dangerous, even while calm, than the furious Revali, who was still trembling with concealed fury. Wauf led the way with a wary gait, followed by the Company and, finally, Link and Ruzoll's men.

The journey had ended, no sooner than it had begun.


	17. Downpour

Link held his head low, not so much for shame but to avoid any critical glares that might come his way. He hadn't much in the way of qualms when it came to deferring the Company's mission in favor of his knightly duties, but still, in the days he'd spent with those Champions, he couldn't help but feel some sense of camaraderie that now tugged at him.

The unit of soldiers had brought Zelda's Champions through the canyon and now took the route through the southern portion of Hyrule Kingdom, familiar enough lands to be sure. Still, as nice as it should have been to see, Zelda remained with a bitter taste in her mouth at how she was being treated, by her own father no less. So determined had she been to burst from her protective cocoon and make her own trail in the world, but now with this vice around her, brought on by her father, she felt a frustration within her, akin to rebelliousness, though knew she hadn't a choice to comply.

She lifted her head to watch the Champions, guilt-ridden that they'd been caught up in this mess of her own inadvertant design. She couldn't thank them for their compliance, simply curling her brow sadly as they came along willingly, even if with various degrees and frustrations among their own selves. Revali continued giving the soldiers around him verbal beatings whenever he could, his face seemingly permanent in its scowl, probably even more belligerent at the idea of visiting Hyrule Kingdom itself. Zelda wondered how hurt he might have felt, deep inside, that were this situation more serious, he likely wouldn't have a single Rito coming to his aid. She couldn't help but feel heart-broken at the thought.

"Even your mother wouldn't come and save you," Zelda could hear the snivelings of his countrymen with sorrowful tones.

Urbosa, while upset herself, carried on as she normally would, her hands buried into her pockets as she did her best to remain bolstered by perseverance. As the one most familiar with Hyrule Kingdom, and especially with the King himself, Zelda figured she mustn't have had much in the way of worry. This was just another trip to the castle, perhaps, even if it was cutting into a cause that Urbosa had taken personally, even if, initially, only at Zelda's insistence. Maybe she was taking the same stance as Zelda- feeling more for the others than herself.

For his own part, Daruk was the most weary about the ordeal, partially caused by his inability to clarify the situation and better understand Hyrule Kingdom at large. He wanted no trouble for his sworn brother, and yet, he so desperately wanted to ask Link so much, particularly his allegiances, even if he knew that Link was a knight through and through. Beyond that, as a Goron, Daruk hadn't exactly been in a situation as this before. He wasn't entire sure if there were some etiquette to being escorted by soldiers or if there were things he should be doing. He failed to ask, however, simply watching the others to find them reacting more or less as though little had changed.

Mipha, on the other hand, couldn'y take her eyes of Link. They weren't the eyes of a unrequited admirer, but of somebody confused, trying to understand. There was a sorrowful nature about those eyes as well, Mipha silently wondering what must be going through Link's mind at the moment. She had sparred with him often in the past; she knew how postures, his cadences- these were the things observed by an unrequited lover. However, now, she only watched him carry himself with such stringency, as though he were forcing himself to remain proper.

"Just tell me," Zelda spoke up with deliberate accusation, "How ashamed of me is my father?"

Ruzoll grumbled, "He's not ashamed, child; you know that. He's always enjoyed your imaginative side."

"So it's just imagination now, isn't it?"

He returned, "You must understand how this might appear to the other people of Hyrule. Especially as the heiress to the crown, you have a responsibility to look upon this situation with the lens of a queen. When your mother walked this earth, you had her succession to hide behind, but now, _you_ are your father's successor. You shan't squander that duty."

"I'm doing _everything_ I can to protect, not only my future subjects, but _everybody_ in Hyrule!" Zelda challenged passionately, though Ruzoll remained unfazed.

He shook his head, "Princess, I've been at your father's side ever since you were born. You're very much the daughter I never had. I say this to you as a guardian, who would give his own life for yours. You mustn't treat this as-"

The old man's voice faded away, unable to speak what he thought to be too harsh for her, though Zelda was quick to finish for him, "What, as some stupid little game?"

"Princess-"

Zelda bit back, "I bet if I had said I'd gone to one of the castle's spirit callers to learn of Hyrule's fate, you'd listen to me."

Shrugging, Ruzoll admitted, "To be fair, that _would_ lend some credibility to your endeavor. Still, some tale heard from a fortune teller _or_ spirit caller would still look bad to the prying eyes of the outside world."

He turned to the others, "No offense."

"No prying here," Urbosa shrugged, "Since you've done us the courtesy of not wrangling us up like dogs, I suppose."

Revali's voice seethed, "_Us_?"

Almost inquisitively, Urbosa turned to the chains wrapped around the Rito's wrists, having been deemed too much of a flight risk, literally, by Ruzoll's men. She knew they were there, only feigning confusion to prod at the feathered man.

"Oh, how about that," she mused in surprise.

He growled, jerking his arms up and down in discomfort, "Stupid- They hurt!"

Zelda turned around, reaching out to his metal bonds with a shake of her head, carefully working them loose, "I'm sorry my people are treating you like this, Revali."

He snapped his beak, shooting a fierce glare toward the nearest soldier, "I'll make sure they remain alive while I-"

"Revali…," Zelda interrupted with a pleading tone, dropping her head regretfully.

He seemed to catch her begging him to quit resisting, if only to stop his continued restraining. Revali scoffed but otherwise remained quiet as Zelda did her best to loosen the bonds as best she could, holding back tears of both frustration and anguish.

"We'll get back to the castle and I'll get us out of this," she assured lightly.

Urbosa sighed, "My dearest, I don't think-"

"I will!" Zelda retorted with a bite to her tone, taking Urbosa off guard as she pulled away from Revali's relieved wrists, returning to her original form as they walked across the Hyrule plains, her head falling low, "I will…"

Frowning, Urbosa let the issue go, pained by the toll this was clearly having on the Princess. She rubbed her arm unsurely, taking in the sight of the ever-increasing panorama of Hyrule Kingdom coming into view as they further approached the town that rested at the foot of the castle. More and more Hylians were peppering the landscape, most of them with confused expressions at the strange arrival of a conglomeration of races being escorted along. Ruzoll did his best to quell any curiosity by simply nodding in the directions of any observers, though it did little to turn away their eyes.

"I'm a little bit nervous," Daruk finally admitted, "Boldon's not gonna be happy about this."

"Boldon?" questioned Urbosa.

Daruk shook his head, "He's the tour guide of Goron City. He's always preaching, 'Oi! You're representing our entire people with your mere presence!'. I hope I'm not turning anybody off by being surrounded by guards…"

"Well, at least you're not bound," Urbosa offered with a pithy tone, "They'd best be steering clear of the Rito as a whole with Revali's appearance."

Revali sneered, "Good. Less troubles in Tabantha."

Chuckling at the thought rising in her head, Urbosa replied in jest, hoping to lighten the mood, "When we get out of this, we'll stage something in Hyrule Town, perhaps. Have Revali stand over my bolognese sauce-d body as I lay dead in the streets. Might as well do him that honor."

Ruzoll turned his head over his shoulder to glance at the Champions, his droll eyes narrowing unenthusiastically, "Let's not cause a scene, please."

Urbosa shrugged, "Just saying…"

The commander cocked his head in Link's direction, "Keep an eye on her, too."

Link nodded in reply, his gait carrying him into the conglomeration of Champions to better orient himself between both Revali and Urbosa, the Gerudo woman laughing humorously at Ruzoll's ridiculous request, not to mention assertion that she might be a danger. Remaining wholly rigid in his posture, Link did his best to avoid the eyes of the others, his attention jolting as Mipha's hand took his arm, forcing his head to whip to the side.

She spoke up quietly, "What's to become of us?"

Easily, Link answered, "They're going to release you all in due time, just-"

"Not when we're done- I mean now," Mipha spoke in uncharacteristic forcefulness, "Poor Daruk is about to have a fit of tremors."

"He'll be fine," Link assured, "He's a Goron. He knows no harm will come to him."

"Does he?" Mipha challenged, earning her a peculiarly confused glance from Link.

He frowned, "Mipha, what's gotten into you? The Zora are just as mindful of their military as the Hylians are; you should understand better than anybody else."

"We understand discretion, even among duty," she explained in heated exchange.

Link stared at her, his voice lined with strain as he struggled to keep his words subdued, "I have _nothing_ but duty! I wasn't born a prince or even a commoner. My mother was a knight, as my father was as well; I wasn't brought into this world, I was bred into it, like a dog. I have nothing but duty to the people for whom I was bred to serve."

"You have _us_," Mipha reminded, "Even excluding loose definitions- By the goddess, you and Daruk are brothers! I would give up all the gold in the world for _my_ brother."

He shook his head begrudgingly, "That won't change things. I'm bound to my fate. Being a knight was the only thing I was ever good at. We're trained to ignore the deaths of our comrades- to move on. I watched my mother die in my arms, and not once did I shed a tear. I'm a far better soldier than I'd be anything else."

Mipha's brow furrowed in sorrow as Link's lips twisted, trying to hold back his own frustrations, "So don't tell me I have anything else."

Her face burned at his self-deprecation, so desperately wanting to prove to him how wrong he was, her voice appearing with a pleading timbre, "How can somebody as strong as you be so weak and subservient to this fate of yours?"

Link didn't reply as the two continued along within the circle of soldiers surrounding them. Ruzoll's head had been peering over his shoulder, having caught their discussion at his ear, and holding his tongue just long enough to finally feel a pang of guilt.

"Link, up here," he ordered with a paternal air, earning a jolting acknowledgement as Link's head turned toward him.

He nodded, "Yes sir."

The knight took a single stride forward before Mipha took his arm, requiring little strength to keep Link near as he came to a sudden halt, spinning around to find Mipha's eye ever-deepening as though she were lost. He matched her expression with one of confusion, unable to ascertain what it was she was wanting, almost begging, herself to say. Her lips trembled for but a moment before pulling inward in worry.

"I love you," she finally admitted in hasty speech, Link's eyes growing wide in surprise as her grip tightened around his arm.

"Link!" repeated Ruzoll impatiently.

The man's ears could not have heard him anyway.

Mipha's face furrowed, aswirl with determination forcing its way through her nerves, "If I can muster the strength to admit _that_, why can't you do the same?"

Link's wide eyes refused to pull away, lost in the shock of what had just been said, only broken by the sudden barking of Ruzoll, who's voice immediately shook the very air surrounding the troupe, "LINK!"

In an instant, Mipha's spell had broken, leaving Link spinning toward his commander, allowing Ruzoll to drop his head to stare at him with renewed seriousness, his voice reiterating, "Up here. _Sir_."

This time, as Link slowly strode away, Mipha allowed her grip to soften, watching Link evaporate from her grasp while he turned his head over his shoulder, taking another lingering glance toward her, his heart growing stagnant, unsure of what to do or even how to do it. Still, he remained in control of enough faculties to know that his commanding officer's word was of the utmost importance, leaving him to sway forward, his gait wholly unsteady as he pressed on.

Mipha clutched her hand against her chest, terrified that her action, made in the heat of the moment, would now have wrought trouble for the man whom she'd loved for years. While most of the Champions went on pretending not to have heard, Zelda's eyes found Mipha, watching her anguished expression with astonishment.

Amidst the shaking atmosphere surrounding the group, Link came to Ruzoll's side, the commander keeping his head up in a show of authority, his eyes winced as he glanced toward the mighty Hyrule Castle just above the silhouette of the nearby town.

"When we arrive, I want you to report to Dagan for your debriefing. You are then to return to your quarters. Understood?" Ruzoll instructed, keeping his head aloft, even as Link's eyes turned up to him in pleading, "I don't want any more trouble than what _they_ will cause already. You'll remain there until I say."

Link's chest reverberated with a chorus of emotions, some wholly foreign to him, but he ultimately lowered his head, taking in a breath as a vision of Mipha flashed across his mind.

"Yes, sir."

* * *

Link listened to the cacophony of steps being taken by visitors and townspeople alike as he stared out the window of his childhood home, his brow sunken in regret while he took in what the day's events had brought. He wasn't able to clear the thought of Mipha's words from his mind; the sentiment she had wrought nearly haunting him in its all-encompassing pervasiveness.

He looked down at his journal, having grown in his knighthood to be the most reliable mirror into his own thoughts, reciting the words he had written there not moments earlier. They appeared so jumbled in his mind's bedraggled state, forcing him to speak those words aloud to himself if only to comprehend their meaning.

"Beyond that, I have another problem-"

He drew a sharp breath.

"I do believe I have fallen in love with her."

The skin at the back of his neck tingled with an intensity he hadn't felt even on during combat. He breath, so readied to prepare himself for those words, now shook with uncertainty, his mind lost on how foreign such a thing was. He didn't even look at women, not in _that_ way, but that night the two of them had shared a swim, he-

He was nearly terrified. Frightened of the thought of sharing anything more than that swim with anybody. Did he love her in return, truly? Surely that would mean sharing responsibilities, sharing time, energy, effort- all the things the Royal Guard had required of him. He knew he was certainly attracted to her- such a rather unbecoming thing already. but it wasn't solely her lithe, toned body that took his attention; it was her determination and strength, hidden so skillfully beneath her aura of kindness. It was her gentleness, so well coupled with her ferocity when the situation called for it.

But her skin, so tender and cold. He could feel it as though he were back within those waters of the oasis all over again. It felt so pleasant now beneath his nervous fervor, almost calming him with its cool touch even with Mipha being gone.

That's right. She was gone.

Link's eyes jumped back up through his window, watching the same Hylians he'd sword to protect. whom he'd been born, bred, to protect.

Could he do the same for Mipha? The one person he _had_ loved had died on his watch.

Could he protect her from himself? from his insecurities, from his duty to Hyrule Kingdom?

He released a shaking breath, shaking his head as he fell into his chair, running a hand across his face with exhaustion, not prepared for such a quandary. He'd never known how to love; not outside of his love of country, anyway. Were he to allow himself to submit to such a thing… to whom would his duty, his loyalty, be bound to?

Slowly reaching into his pocket, he ceased for a moment, staring once more at the line he had jotted down in his journal, before gradually sliding a separate pocketbook from his pocket than the one Ruzoll had taken, this one never meant for the eyes of anybody else. As Link flipped through the pages, he caught glimpses of the pages within, roughly drawn sketches, by his own hand, mostly of the same plants and animals that Zelda had dragged him around to find. but some were people he'd run into during his travels, most of them simply sketched from memory after the fact.

Near the end of the collection, where a sizable number of blank pages remained thereafter, Link's eyes fell upon a rough drawing he'd made of Mipha from that night. His eyes shook as his stare grew intense, following the strokes his pencil had once made, envisioning himself following those very same lines with his hands atop Mipha's own body, staring into those eyes of hers that wore all of the emotions that Link, himself, was too afraid to wield.

Was this love? this feeling that seemed to strangle him through his chest without a thing there to squeeze. He allowed his eyes to wander back up toward his journal once more, his mind awash with such ideas, but as they ebbed and flowed, the one constant in his mind was always Mipha. He didn't care about whatever mission, or the fate of the world beyond his own part of it.

But he cared about _her_. Might _she_ become a part of that world?

Such a thought left him there, despondent; ill-equipped to challenge these emotions that flooded over him.


	18. Leap of Faith

Daruk rubbed his hands together, examining the interior of the castle with awe as he stood beside his companions, "I guess it isn't so bad. I thought we would be treated like criminals."

"The Princess is _right_ beside you; what exactly made you think we'd be imprisoned?!" Revali inquired with disbelief, not noticing the jingling at his wrists as he remained enchanted.

Poignantly enough, Daruk's eyes fell toward Revali's bindings, the Rito glibly scoffing g as he turned away knowingly, though Daruk still offered his suspicions, "I mean, they _did_ put _you_ in-"

"I know, I know!" complained Revali with a heated breath.

The Champions had been taken through the castle and into the main hall, where King Bospheramus was to arrive shortly, leaving the group with little more to do than examine these new surroundings, given that they were still underneath the watchful eyes of Ruzoll and his men. Daruk had been the most astounded, having never been within many houses, much less a castle, and his head remained upturned as he followed the endless columns and buttresses that held up the mighty ceiling above, almost in defiance of the gravity itself.

He turned toward Zelda for further questioning, "Hey! What kind if rock comprises these walls?"

Still deftly annoyed by the situation, Zelda her best to oblige in a kind enough tone, "I'm not sure; you'd have to ask one of the historians."

Daruk snapped a finger in defeat, earning him a scoff as Revail's eyes rolled into his head dramatically, "Why don't you just _lick_ it and tell us?"

For a moment, the Goron remained remiss, though as the idea mulled around in his head, his face narrowed determinately, leaving Urbosa to sigh, shaking her head, "Please don't ."

"T'would make for an interesting party trick. Perhaps those buzzards over there would be impressed," Revali shrugged, shooting his upturned beaks toward the nearby soldiers.

With a sigh, Urbosa plead behind a sarcastic voice, "Let's at least maintain _some_ decorum. I know this crew couldn't be any more of the motley variety, but perhaps we can give Zelda _something_ proud to defend."

Zelda grotto her teeth, her lips tensed with determination, "I would be proud even of a band of cuckoos if they were in service to the future of Hyrulr."

Her face immediately falling with shame at the sight of Daruk, the Goron scratching the nearby wall only to bring it up for a taste, nodding to himself attentively as though tasting g a fine wine, Urbosa turned to Zelda with a dismayed expression, "Could you go less than a pack of cuckoos..?"

Groaning, Zelda turned away from the others, strolling away to where Mipha had planted herself, seated against the wall. The Princess grumbled to herself something unintelligible, though still vitriolic, as she fell beside Mipha, crossing her legs in her seated position while frowning.

"I'm sorry about all this," Zelda confessed, still with anger in her voice, "I don't mean to bother you. I just needed get away from the others. I know they mean well, or at least Urbosa does, but I'm in no mood for a lighter mood at the moment."

From one Princess to another, Mipha shook her head, "No, you're fine. I understand."

Zelda dropped her head back against the wall, shutting her eyes in some attempt at serenity, if only for the moment, still tormented by her father's blatant distrust of her and her intentions. She thought of her mom; how she had always been in Zelda's corner, even when her eccentricities came to the fore. The woman had always been protective of her daughter, though not for fear of Zelda's safety, but of the world doing what it often did to dreamers. She loved Zelda's quirks, and wanted them to last, well into both of their later lives.

Of course, Zelda's mother wouldn't make it.

"That's the Master Sword, isn't it?" Mipha asked quietly, forcing Zelda's eyes open as her head dropped forward.

Across the room in an ornate alcove of the main hall, surrounded by stained glass depictions of the heroes of old, sat a small, non-descript altar, upon which lay a mighty sword, resting atop pure white fabric. That's where it had been sat millennia ago, a testament to Hyrule's perseverance; though it's continued presence also suggested a rather ominous, foreboding reminder: that for all the years that Master Sword had remained here, it was all the same time that no Hero had been at the vanguard of Hyrule's destiny.

Zelda replied, "Yep. The legendary blade. The Sword of Evil's Bane. among other titles."

"The Goddess Sword," Mipha added, leaving Zelda to nod in reply, "That's what it's called in the book you gifted me."

Zelda continued, "You have to read a bunch into history to come up with that one, and even then, the sources are so few and far between, we can't be entire sure of its origins. Still, from what we know of the blade itself, that it's _very_ old and _very_ storied, it's not a leap to believe it to be associated with the Goddesses."

"How can you tell that it's so old?" Mipha wondered.

Her frown gradually growing into a smirk, Zelda pushed herself up, waving for Mipha to follow her to her feet, "Well, I suppose that requires some examination, doesn't it? Come on."

Unsurely enough, Mipha shakily followed along as Zelda and she crossed the room, slightly afraid of approaching a blade that Link had already told her had a history of being a detriment to the unworthy. Still, she put on a brave face, her bare feet pattering atop the marble floor as she matched Zelda's gait.

As they closed in with no objection, Zelda turned to find Ruzoll's eyes on them, though he turned away soon after, signaling his approval, allowing them to work their way up the two steps that lead up to the altar, Mipha growing more anxious as Zelda reached the ornamental table of marble, the Zora remaining atop only the first step. Zelda turned to her in confusion, only giggling as she goaded her on.

"Come on!" Zelda instructed, only to Mipha's nervousness.

Mipha replied, "B-But won't it-"

Answering quickly, Zelda admitted, "If it was going to hurt you _that_ much, you'd have been thrown to the ground already. Now come on!"

This did little to quell Mipha's nerves, though she readied herself once again, taking a soft step to the top of the marble enclave, taking in the mighty sword with awestruck eyes.

"This was probably the first thing that I _really_ got into learning about," Zelda affirmed easily, "Especially later on. I, uh- I'm supposed to have magical powers, you know, but- I don't, so- It frustrated me so much growing up, thinking I was defective; I didn't think I was meant to have it easy simply due to my royal birth, but-"

She shrugged, "I liked the idea of fate being so concrete as to be merely lifting a sword, you know?"

Mipha lowered her head respectfully, feeling as though Zelda had revealed quite the personal bit of information, though the Hylian Princess quickly returned her attention to the sword, "In any case, by observation, we know it's of a divine origin. Not only that, it seems to have something of a consciousness behind it. It hates some people, and likes others."

Zelda lowered her hand toward the sword, much to Mipha's astonishment, and gently dropped her fingers to run their tips along the sword's shining edge, "See? I can't lift it, but this is closer than most people can get."

Her eyes resting atop the blade for more than a moment, Mipha's awe overpowered her as Zelda watched with growing sadness, smiling lightly as she spoke up, only quietly, "This is about Link, isn't it?"

"W-What?!" Mipha exclaimed, quickly covering her mouth as her eyes jolted around to ascertain who all might have heard.

Zelda giggled, shaking her head, "So how long have you- you know..?"

Her nerves quelled by Zelda's secrecy, Mipha's brow furrowed regretfully, fearing she now owed Zelda back for her story from a moment before, quietly explaining, "W-Well, I mean- He was in Zora's Domain often as a child, I guess, so I knew him. We grew older and- I don't know, he just- I don't know. But he was so short- shorter than me- and it was already bad that, at the time, I was the sole heir to the throne. It wouldn't do for me to find attraction in a Hylian. I told myself, if he returned and I remained taller than he, I would forget about it all."

"Ahh," Zelda mused with gossiping ears, "And he met that challenge?"

"I-I- I mean, he didn't- know- but I just…" Mipha stuttered, bringing a fist up to cover her lips as her eyes averted, "Maybe it just seemed to me like he knew and just decided to have a growth spurt or whatever. It's silly, I know."

Zelda shrugged, "Seems more cute to me, really."

"But-" Mipha paused, dropping her head sadly, "He must not feel the same way. I would have thought he'd rush here to join us, but-"

Her own face curling with uncertainty, Zelda replied, "I mean, in my time with him anyway, he's kind of a tough nut to crack. Hyrule's been his love for his entire life, really. If he feels the same way, it might be even more difficult for him to admit that to himself than to you."

Grinning, Zelda continued, "But if _I_ have any say, we _will_ need him once we get this journey kick-started once again. Regardless. There'll be plenty of time to get you two togeth-"

"W-What?!" Mipha cried out in embarrassment, turning her face away to hide the blush that wasn't there, "I-I-"

Zelda giggled at her reaction, turning back toward the Master Sword, "So, what, you want him to try to wield this so he can be more worthy of your affections?"

"No!" Mipha retorted without hesitation, quickly reining herself in, "I mean- I know he's such a kind person, so- I'd love him even if he was a mere farmer. I just don't- He's just that kind of person who is destined for so much greater things. I hate to see him so pained, being torn between his love of duty and his longing for more."

She felt her heart throb in time with her gills as they were sent aflutter, "I promised him long ago… I would protect him- keep him safe. If that means keeping him safe from himself in his dogged determination to remain in flux, that's what I'll do. Even if it mean-..."

Her voice trailed off, not wanting her heart to tremble at such an idea, though Zelda completed the thought which hurt all the same, "Even if it means him choosing his knighthood over you?"

Mipha nodded lowly.

Zelda sighed, turning toward the Master Sword with a certain longing in her heart, "Well, take it from the heir of the Hyrulean Royal Family who cannot possess magic. Our only fate that is set in stone remains, solely, to be our deaths."

The two of them remained in quiet solitude as the massive doors at the opposite end of the main hall opened, two guards at each door pushing them open as King Bosphoramus strode in behind them, pushing his hand against one of the doors to assist the men until they came to a halt, signaling his attention to rise toward the newcomers. His face wore exasperation and contempt, more so due to his daughter, though there _was_ a sense of regret of having allowed her to leave in the first place.

He had weighed such options before agreeing, though he had miscalculated the gravity such an expedition might cause. The King had left the idea at nothing more than his daughter's crazy idea- he hadn't expected her to actually recruit help when her connections were so few, much less the help of some formidable beings in their own right. Had he known Link possessed such an influence, he'd have sent a lesser officer and simply ended it at Zelda and Urbosa meandering about. With the names of Daruk, Urbosa, and the Princess of the Zora, most astonishingly, at the behest of Captain Ruzoll, King Bosphoramus was suddenly caught between allowing such an outlandish troupe causing such a ruckus with nothing more behind it than a fortune teller's intuition interpreted by his daughter.

His daughter and her surrogate mother gallivanting around wasn't strange. Zelda, accompanied by a corps of Champions, on a global trek; _that_ was cause for attention.

Zelda quickly left the altar, stomping up toward her father with fury in her eyes, "Father!"

"Daughter," he replied simply.

She threw a thumb over her shoulder, "So what's your explanation for this sort of treatment?! _This_ is how we treat our neighbors?!"

"No it's not. But these are not mere neighbors, child," Bosphoramus warned, "These are people you have deceived with your tales of grandeur, and I will not allow it to continue."

Offended at such deception being accused of her, Zelda stammered, "What?! I- W-"

"Excuse me, Rhoam," Urbosa spoke up, taking slow strides toward the two members of Hylian royalty, "Can I still call you Rhoam?"

The King frowned, "I would prefer you do not when we're around guests…"

"Okay, Rhoam, then," Urbosa replied with a smirk.

"But, then again, you weren't ever one for following decorum," King Bosphoramus muttered drolly.

Revali scoffed, grumbling with ire, "And she has the _gall_ to lecture _me_ on such things…"

"Look, shouldn't that be for _us_ to decide?" questioned Urbosa, "I, for one, haven't a doubt when it comes to this child's validity."

The King's eyes narrowed, "I also know that you've become like a second mother to this child. I wouldn't doubt you would take her side, just as her mother did; both of you have a penchant for such things."

Irked at an insinuation, Urbosa threw her head around, "Daruk! You believe her, don't you?"

"A- Uh- What?" the Goron puttered in reply, "Well, I- I mean, uh, which part? I do think that much can be gained by studying the Beasts, but- uh- about the other stuff, I mean-"

Urbosa's face curled with resentment, searching for reinforcements in Revali before quickly recognizing that as a bad idea, though the Rito took her sudden glance as an invitation, "Pshaw, _I_ don't. I wasn't even made privy to this whole venture until later on; I was told we'd be seeking fame and fortune."

The muscles around Zelda's chest constructed painfully.

Just holding in a curse, Urbosa spun toward Mipha, "Mipha! You believe her, don't you?!"

"I mean, truthfully, I do not presume that she meant any ill will or anything, just-" Mipha began, sadly, "I haven't a problem going along and being convinced as we progress."

Knowing such a thing wasn't going to cut it with _this_ man, this King, Urbosa dropped her head in defeat, groaning with disappointment.

"I'm merely saving them for your wild ideas, daughter," King Bosphoramus confirmed, almost sadly.

Zelda's hands clenched into fists, shooting her head up toward her father to reveal the tears crawling down her face, "Are you so ashamed of me?!"

"Zelda-"

"Or is it because of my inability to wield magic?!" Zelda challenged angrily, "How many nights have you remained awake, wondering how much of a mistake I was to bring into this wor-!"

"THAT'S ENOUGH!" Rhoam shouted with a roaring voice that shook the very air within the gigantic room, sending his daughter aback in recoil.

He stepped toward her, "I will _not_ allow you to put words into my mouth, and I certainly will _not_ allow you to accuse me of such wickedness!"

Zelda turned her face in furious resolve, not bothering to back down now, "You're doing the same exact thing to me!"

"Because I'm your father!" he retorted with just as much heat to his tone, "Because I've seen what happens when you upset the natural order of this world! Because I _was_ you when I was but a child!"

"Father!"

"That's enough!" Rhoam continued with spewing instruction, "I won't allow this discussion to go on any longer! You are to make your way to the library, this instant!"

Zelda threw an arm out defiantly, "No!"

"That's an order, child!"

Urbosa's anger suddenly boiled over as she took a step forward, "Hey! You're not about to just cut her off like that!"

His glare turning toward Urbosa now, Rhoam defended himself, "So long as I'm her father-!"

Ruzoll's stare narrowed as Urbosa approached the King, unsure of how the current situation was to progress. His lips tugged together, pursed in expectation as he signaled to his men. Instantly, the majority of his men hurried across the hall toward Urbosa, having already known of her strength, their collective steps catching Urbosa's attention as smirked greedily.

"Really?!" she asked incredulously.

From across the hall, Revali's eyes lit up as he bowed his head to hide a grin, "Yes, really…"

Eyeing the remaining number of soldiers, Ruzoll and an assortment of three other men, Revali quickly sized them up, shaking his head, "Hylians in a barrel."

At his words, one of the nearby soldiers turned to Revali with a confusion look, not a moment before Revali jumped at him, knocking him to the ground before the Rito readied himself once again, even with his wrists bound, quickly dodging a blow from one of the others and seething angrily before launching another attack.

Taking out another of the soldiers, Ruzoll stomped forward with his sword drawn, sending Revali hopping backward with a fierce look aimed toward Daruk, "Goron! Aid me! Your skin is impervious!"

Already lost amidst the confusion, Daruk simply held his hands up into the air, looking around him with dread at the thought of possibly harming any number of the people around him, "I- I'm not equipped to-!"

"Not equipped?! You're nothing but stone!" Revali reminded as he dodged a blow from Ruzoll, "Just get up there and- GAH!"

The other soldier tackled Revali, sending the two to the ground as Ruzoll joined in the fray, the two Hylians overpowering the Rito as Revali furiously attempted to break free, shouting in strange caws of Rito obscenity as Ruzoll attempted to bind him further. Zelda angrily spun around toward the scrum, beginning to charge, though her advance was halted by the advancing squad of men encircling Urbosa.

"Stop it!" she shouted at the top of her lungs, trying to burst through the line of soldiers, "_STOP IT!_"

_**-BANG!-**_

The entire hall fell silent at the deafening thud of sound that tore through the atmosphere, forcing every action to cease as everybody present eyed the doorway that had just blown open. Zelda slid free from the soldiers, her body shaking from the aftershock of so many emotions roiling throughout her body and suddenly coming to a chilling stop. Her breath ran cold as the body of Link walked in, stopping once his presence could be seen.

Ruzoll immediately returned to Revali, the scrum continuing with the Rito's peckish attacks while the commander shouted, "Link! Get over here and help us!"

The struggle continued until Ruzoll noticed Link's inaction. The Hylian merely stood there, watching the struggle from afar before turning his head back toward the altar where Mipha had remained. Her skin crawled at the sight of Link standing there, almost with a primal determination on his face; as though he'd come for prey far greater than even his rival in Revali.

Link stepped forward with conviction, his heart stopping as he truly realized what he was about to do. The Master Sword bed atop that altar came into view, forcing a shiver down Link's spine, knowing what the sword was all too capable of doing to him. Even worse what was sure to happen to his reputation, were his assertion true- or rather, Mipha's assertion. His breaths grew quick, hollow, as he strode toward the alcove, only allowing his eyes to flinch once to watch Mipha for but a moment as she stepped away from the steps leading to the altar, in awe of the sight before her.

He was truly doing it.

As Link stepped up the round steps, the room had once again come to a sudden halt, with even Revali's attention on the Hylian. He took a deep breath as he stood there, within arms' reach of the blade that had turned greater men than he mad with jealously over not having ownership of it. It had turned greater men's arm jet black with divine punishment for daring to claim it.

He knew all too well, all those great Hylians to come before him, all of whom he couldn't ever hope to hold a candle to. They all took this blade.

By the goddess… how could he hope to do so as well?

Link stared at the hilt of the blade, thinking of Mipha. of her faith in him, of his worthiness. He thought of a life with her, where every day could be better than the last. where the two of them would discover so much, not of just each other, but of that world where the two of them were bound by strands far greater than any material known to Hyrule.

How could such a world come to pass, were there nobody to protect it?

His hand reached over, taking hold of the blade's handle, a collective assortment of gasps echoing throughout the grandiose hallway, of soldiers mystified, having only seen a handful of people having gotten _this_ far.

Yet one test remained.

Link swallowed, almost painfully, through his parched throat. His heart stopped for the briefest of moments, his breathing ceased, his skin crawled.

And his hand raised up.

Immediately, the soldiers were aghast, quickly dropping their own swords in reverence for the Sacred Blade, even Ruzoll, who clawed his way up to his feet with wide eyes, tossing his sword to the ground. Link's own eyes drew amazed at the sight before him; the sword followed his movements, as though he were wielding- Wait, was he truly doing so? It felt heavy in his grasp, not simply due to the material, he was certain, but of the history. of the sheer gravity this most sacred of blades carried atop of it.

Slowly, Link turned around with his arm outstretched, allowing his eyes to fall upon King Bosphoramus, who's eyes were glistening with both awe as well as shock.

"You ask for legitimacy in Princess Zelda's endeavors," Link spoke up with a heavy tone.

He lifted his arm in presentation, "Here it is, your highness."


	19. Newfound Trails

Urbosa reached her hands up into the air, having crouched down to better present herself to a young pair of Hylian siblings, smiling brightly as she spoke up excitedly, "Come on, high five!"

The taller of the two hopped right into the air to excitedly smack Urbosa's hand, though the more timid one remained confined to his own personal space. Helpfully noticing his mute behavior, Urbosa's smile grew warm as she dropped her hand to better allow him to acquiesce without so much of a show.

"Down low, then," she nodded.

The boy grinned bashfully before reaching out his hand, dropping it against Urbosa's before quickly hiding behind his sister, who began to chastise him as the two started off, having had their fill of the strange band of strangers standing at the gateway between the castle and town. The Gerudo woman smiled as she watched the two children off, turning back around to find Link knelt down, readying their packs with new provisions.

"Well well, so much for just tagging along, huh?" she openly teased, earning a droll glance from Link as he continued working.

He replied with a sigh, "Shut up."

This only caused her to chuckle, peering at the ornate sword Link had wrapped up inside a bundle of fine linens and strapped to his pack, still with his old sword bound to his back, "You're not wearing the important one?"

"I'd rather not cause a ruckus," he explained quickly, to Urbosa's suspicion, "The last thing we need is any more attention then we'll already be drawing."

Urbosa's eyes rolled, "Uh huh. You have any other excuses you'd like to try on me before Zelda shows up?"

Groaning, Link dropped his head, "That bad, huh?"

"We've got kids staring at us from behind corners because of how strange we all look to them; just how our group is formed is enough cause for drawing attention," Urbosa shrugged.

Link tapped his foot as he thought for a moment, "Well, I mean, I could just say I'm trying to keep it safe?"

"That sword has the weight of millennia upon its edge and you expect her to believe that its safer within its sheath?" Urbosa laughed, shaking her head, "Tell me, why are you so apprehensive to wield it, still? It all but chose you, after generations of rejecting everybody else."

Link failed to reply, leaving Urbosa alone to only guess, though she'd had an idea already, "Are you apprehensive of the added responsibility?"

"No, I just-" Link paused for a moment, "I was born to protect these people. I haven't an issue with the responsibility, but- I just want to be sure."

Urbosa's eyes crinkled with curious interest, "Sure of what?"

"That I'm the right one," Link spoke gingerly, his voice just barely managing through the air between the two of them.

Another chuckle, Urbosa all but availing her self at the thought, "Boy! It just _chose_ you!"

"But what if it's wrong..?"

Urbosa's eyes narrowed, "It's not. Had that been a possibility- If that Sword had been wrong, even once before, we wouldn't be standing here, now would we?"

Link dropped his eyes at the sentiment, allowing Urbosa to slap a hand atop his shoulder in support, "If you ever had time to search for a more concrete understanding of this new role, it is now, with us. If we're truly to understand these Beasts- understand this coming threat; all the better you understand your new self."

"New self?" Link inquired sincerely.

Urbosa cocked her eyebrows, smirking in reply, "You're almost unrecognizable!"

Coming to recognize her teasing, Link swiped only at air as Urbosa recoiled away with a playful motion, chuckling in answer as she assured throughout it all, "Even when you weren't one of us, we all had your back. Imagine the support now that you _are_ a part of the group. We'll all figure this out, alright?"

Link sighed almost in lonesome resignation, though Urbosa softly hit his upper arm with a fist, smiling fondly before speaking up in recognition, "Champion."

Despite recognizing the mocking undertones, Link understood her sentiment to also hold a deeper meaning, welcoming him into the group of five that had now become six. He didn't think he required that sort of vindication, though now, hearing it aloud, it was rather nice to know that he had been, more or less, officially welcomed, rather than just a supposed addition.

Urbosa stride off toward her pack, which Daruk had absently been approaching with sneaking steps, the Gerudo raising her voice, "Goron!"

"W-What?!" he retorted in nervous exclamation, "I was just-"

"Just trying to steal my store, weren't you?" Urbosa accused, throwing a finger out at Daruk.

He flinched, "N-No! I was only- comparing them, making sure you hadn't gotten better food stuffs!"

"Uh huh," Urbosa nodded drolly, "Do you think me to have been born yesterday?"

Revali scoffed, his arms crossed to better prevent any of the curious Hylians nearby from approaching him, "It would surely explain your inability to recognize the Rito as- Gah! Back off, vermin!"

He immediately flinched in recoil as a group of children stalked up to him, leaving him to shout, "you attempt to surround me, but I am not afraid of your wily efforts, fools!"

"Ha ha!" the cluster of kids clamored in amusement, "You're funny!"

Revali's eyes flew wide open, "_I'm_ funny?! You schlemiel of a child, have you not seen yourself? Waddling about, parading as if in celebration of your uselessness! You hadn't even earned your livelihood by breaking through a shell; you were all but excreted and _given_ the breath of life!"

The chorus of laughter continued, the iridescent presence of foreign verbiage causing the children all the more amusement as one of them asserted, "Haha, you have feathers, mister!"

"What? My plumage?!" Revali panicked, spinning his body in place as he examined himself, "Has something blemished them?!"

The comical display earned even laughter from the nearby adults, forcing Revali to sneer in revulsion at having been played, "Alright, you wish to try as you might against my abilities? Fine! In Rito culture, we rarely discriminate on the basis of age; I'd love to accept your challenge!"

He threw a finger toward the child, "_You_ have hair! What a useless addendum to the Hylian form! Ha!"

Still, the children remained in the bouts of laughter, only heating up Revali all the more as he attempted to understand the situation, but to no avail. Link only shrugged as he watched with his own amusement, grinning at the Rito's frustration as he returned to packing, turning to find Mipha having returned.

Immediately pulling his head down to feign some sense of focus on his work, it was more due to his worry of possibly blushing in front of her. Had Mipha a clue of this, she didn't let on, simply speaking as though she were merely updating a fellow Champion.

"I found some sharpening stones and a few bits of flint," she confirmed plainly, watching Link nod in acknowledgement as he continued his work.

Quietly, he answered, "Thanks."

Despite being outside his view, Mipha nodded herself, taking a step toward the others as Link jumped to his feet, speaking hastily while simultaneously scratching the back of his head, his eyes off on some tangential point in another direction.

"Hey, uh-" he spoke up unsurely, "I don't want- I mean-"

Mipha's brow furrowed with confusion, "Don't want- Oh."

"N-No! I-" Link stammered fearfully, waving his hands in front of him, taking a breath as his shoulders slumped dejectedly, "What you said back there. Did you- mean it..?"

Her eyes deepened as she peered into Link's face, as if trying to understand not only his words, but the meaning in his expression. Perhaps she simply wanted him to sweat a bit, he couldn't tell, but without warning, as Link's neck crawled with hopeless anticipation, Mipha's voice rang through.

"I did," she smiled lightly, "As honestly as I might have years ago."

Link lowered his head, unable to contain a smile as he averted his gaze while his nerves suddenly came to the fore, churning his stomach in an aching ball of mass trying to roll through his entire body. Feeling the heat of his face rising, he tried to hide himself even more, though Mipha's low giggling admitted to her having already seen.

"I've never seen you do that before; not unless you had a cold," noted Mipha with a brilliant smile on her face.

Clearing his throat, Link shook his head, boldly replying, "I assure you, it's nothing to, uh- I've never had such a thing spoken to me before."

Mipha lowered her head, now facing her own embarrassment, the two now only sharing words rather than eye contact as Link went on, "I mean, once or twice, but- not by anyone so beautiful."

Her heart jumped.

"Look, Mipha," Link spoken up with unwavering confidence, his reddened face slowly beginning to fade, "I don't know- Today has kind of left me in a strange situation. My life was one way this very morning, but now, it- It's just a bit different."

"Just a bit, yes," Mipha agreed with a sardonic sort of teasing.

Link strained his chest for a moment, readying himself to continued, "I don't know anything about what I'm to do now. My life is, just- It's like I've been reborn somehow with no idea of the world around me, so… I have to figure out a lot; you know, like this sword, this whole Champion thing-"

His heart tugged as he watched Mipha's downturned head. He reached over to take a gentle hold of her hand, concealed as they were from the view of anybody else, stroking the indentions opposite her palm with his thumb. Her scales shuddered at such an intimate touch, his hand pulsating heat along her arm due to his nerves having forced his heart to course blood throughout his skin. She thought it nice to somehow feel what he was feeling.

"I do know one thing, though," Link affirmed with a soft voice, betraying the smile upon his face, "Whatever my life is to become as a result of this- If you would allow me, I would quite like to have you in it."

Mipha's eyes raised to meet Link's, her brow spun in heartfelt wonderment by his words. Her hand grasped his own, tightly, as her smile broke through. She might have known what came next after such an affirmation had she the mental faculties to recall her Hylian fairy tales, however, in lieu of such an ability, her eyes simply shuddered as Link leaned forward to gently press his lips against hers, forcing her skin to crawl from the heat ruminating upon her face. Between the pleasured feeling of that warmth of the man she loved and her biology gradually coming to a halt at the sensation often accompanying a sun bath, her legs began to shake in ever-expanding weakness, Link only realizing this as her lips began to escape his.

Not allowing such a thing to pass, Link's hand left her hand to grab hold of her hips, pulling her torso against his as their shared show of chaste passion burned at their lips. His hands pierced her scales, that feeling of being held tightly coming across rather alluringly Mipha noted to herself, simply allowing her body to be supported by this man's strength as though he would carry mountains if only to take her lips into his own.

Soon enough, their kiss ended with a subtle end as their lips lingered just before the other's, cloudy eyes meeting above their two pairs of sated skin. Link had taken to blushing lightly once again, leaving Mipha relieved to have been without such a thing, though her quaking legs testified much the same thing as Link's face.

"I don't- know much about this kind of stuff," Link admitted weakly, "Was that the right thing to do?"

Mipha replied easily, "I don't rightly care whether it was or not."

Unable to withhold his relief, Link allowed a soft chuckle in reply.

"You make it sound as though I'm a luminary on the topic," Mipha complained with a wry smile.

Shrugging, Link retorted, "You read all those fairy tale books, don't you?"

Mipha thought for a moment, "I liked the picture books for a reason, remember?"

"Well, your Hylian is getting better," Link spoke in a light voice as he concealed a laugh, "Perhaps we can do some research and figure it out. together."

The Zora woman smiled sweetly at the thought for only a brief moment before Link returned to share one final kiss as the crowd behind them began to roar with cheers. Forced to cut their momentary reunion of lips short, the two parted resistantly while looking on toward the crowd.

"Guess who?" Link asked rhetorically, smiling back down toward Mipha, "I suppose it's time to return."

She nodded diligently in reply, hoping to hide the longing she had to simply curl up into his arms and be lulled to sleep by his comforting drain of body heat. They returned to the group of Champions just as King Bosphoramus and Zelda descended down the final portion of stairs, the Princess still smiling with a bevy of nerves at the mounting attention that she still hadn't accrued a resistance to. Her father reacted as fluidly as a King might by this point in his life, giving the people of Hyrule a wave and nodding thankfully to the crowds before returning his attention to his daughter, dipping his head so that she could hear.

"Just- don't do anything that I wouldn't," he instructed with a paternal zeal lining his voice.

Zelda smirked, "When haven't I heeded those very words?"

Her father sighed regretfully, looking out toward his daughter's Champions as though pleading to find the knight who now carried the Master Sword. Upon catching Link's visage, the King returned to his daughter.

"He is one of my most trusted knights. You are to trust in his instincts, as well as his combat prowess and-"

"Father, I know!" Zelda returned with a joyful air, "You raised me well, even without mom. Part of why I wanted to begin this journey in the first place was to prove that to you."

Rhoam growled in a deep, rumbling groan, dropping his head regretfully, "As much as I would like to say having you return was a lack of trust in your inexperience, I see, now, that it was little more than a distrust in my own work as a father. I've worried, for years, that I couldn't possibly do right by you without your mother at my side, but- I see now, that might be folly. You've grown into quite the dependable young lady, my child."

Zelda smiled proudly at his words, nodding studiously as she reached her arms around him for a hug, the two embracing warmly as the child, now an adult, confirmed, "You did great, father."

He nodded as they parted, immediately pointing toward Link, "I _still_ want you to allow him the duty of keeping you safe! I know you too well, still, my daughter; I know you won't make it easy for him!"

"Okay, okay, I will," Zelda assured before bowing deeply toward her father, signaling her time for departure, "I love you, father."

He smiled warmly, "And I love you too, Zelda. If you run off and find whatever it is you're looking for- Just remember, you'll always have me to return to."

"I know, father," she smiled, "I know."

The two shared dutiful nods before Zelda spun around, reorienting the backpack strung atop her shoulder as she approached the Champions, happily taking her place among them as the six members all came into a circle. Zelda's eyes flickered with the brilliance of impending adventure as she examined the lot of them, one by-

"Link," she grinned wryly, "I thought you weren't here to partake in our dities?"

The knight groaned, recalling Urbosa's teasing from a moment ago, "You know, I _could_ leave."

"But you won't!" Daruk challenged mightily, "Your burning heart affirms your dazzling will, my brother! You know your place is here with us!"

Urbosa chuckled, shrugging, "He's right, you know."

Link's head fell backward in exasperation as Zelda's eyes blew open wide, "Wait! Where's the Master Sword?!"

Link checked himself with a quick glance toward Urbosa, who simply cocked her head with a smirk, finding amusement in the predicament she had very well predicted. Link rushed for an answer, answering simply enough not a moment too late for Zelda's curiosity to be piqued.

"No reason to beg for any more attention then we'll already be receiving," Link assured.

Zelda watched him for a brief moment as she thought, finally nodding agreement, "Fair enough, I guess. Anyway, we'll-"

"Wait, you're not gonna buy that, are you?" Urbosa challenged suddenly, more with annoyance that her surrogate daughter had so easily caved to an excuse she had already deemed inadequate.

Zelda turned to Urbosa with confusion, "Should- Should I not have?!"

The Gerudo woman groaned, rubbing a hand across her face, "Ah, vai… The knight isn't the only much with much to learn, still."

"I trust she simply means that Link should not have feigned impudence and attempted to shield himself from excuse," Revali challenged with a sneering gaze toward Link.

Urbosa sighed, "Okay, three of them…"

"Just because you have that sword, Hylian- Don't mistake it for believing you have any more worth than before," Revali remarked, "And don't let that showy entrance of yours go to your head! I'd have taken on that entire battalion had you not arrived!"

Without skipping a beat, Mipha turned toward Zelda with a mischievous glance, "Are you sure we can afford another member to fit alongside his ego?"

"Very good!" Urbosa laughed, "I hadn't a clue you could make jokes, Mipha!"

Revali turned his head in confusion, "What? I don't follow."

"Some things," Link assured with a challenging smirk, "You cannot follow even through the power of flight."

Frowning with dismay, Revali puffed up his chest, allowing the conversation to wash over him, "Well, a raven takes no notice of the prattlings on of the ibis. I would do well to heed that proverb."

Before any further prodding could occur, Zelda took hold of the reins, speaking up confidently enough, "Alright, Champions. We begin anew! …though, I suppose we should return to Vah Naboris. Ruzoll never did give us that notebook back before he moved onto the assignment he left to come get us."

Link's brow raised inquisitively, running along the lineup surrounding him before offering, "Actually…"

He reached into his pocket, much to the group's amazement, and pulled out another small booklet, skipping through the pages before handing it over to Zelda, "I kind of developed a decent recall while out on patrol. That should be everything of note I jotted down."

"Link!" Zelda nearly shouted in shock, "Th- This is incredible! Thank you!"

He shrugged, though felt the glances of the others as Urbosa chuckled teasingly, "You never were separate from us, were you?"

"Shut up," Link repeated with a frown, dropping his head warily while Zelda examined the notes.

She hummed to herself before noting aloud, "Isn't this missing a thing or two?"

"Hmm?" Link wondered as she passed the booklet back toward him, "Just your scholar-speak. I figured that was unnecessary."

Suddenly affright, Zelda retorted loudly, "I-! I do not have 'scholar speak' or whatever!"

"Gah lee!" "Gah lee." Golly!" rang out the other members of the group.

Zelda's head bolted upward, contorted in anger as her face blew red with embarrassment, "I don't-!"

"Biggun!" "Biggun..?" ""Big one." came another chorus.

Her face immensely flustered, Zelda simply took her pack and dropped her head, strolling along with shame lining her words, "Just- Let's go."

Daruk burst forth a jolly laugh as Urbosa took Zelda in her arms, "My child, you know there is no fellowship without jokes."

Zelda's steps continued taking her away, even with Urbosa's embrace, until finally, she stopped, taking a moment to recover before turning her face up toward Urbosa with a smile.

"Yeah. I know."

"Excellent!" Daruk roared with vigor, earning an excited applause from some of the nearby townspeople, "Then we're off! …correct?"

Zelda nodded, "Yes, we are. and this time, there's not a thing that can stop us."

* * *

**_A/N: So that's the end! Thank you so very much if you've made it this far! The fact that anybody would give anything of mine any attention whatsoever is so incredibly humbling, and it absolutely fills my heart with joy to know people are not only reading these, but coming back to them as I continue writing them. It just means the whole world to me, so thank you so, so much :)_**

**_So, some housekeeping is in order:_**

**_This concludes 'Champions' Tale' insofar as it's more of a 'soft-ending'. There's obviously three more Divine Beasts to visit, as well as a bevy of other troubles, events, and magical moments that can all come to pass, though this soft-ending is a tidy enough stopping point just in case you're all exhausted of the story and believe this to be a neat enough conclusion. I would love any and all feedback; I've grown to love these versions of the BotW characters, and have zero issue coming up with future conversations and plot stuff to accommodate three more milestones upon the journey!_**

**_Regardless, I will be taking a break to start up a different story! Between WoW Classic coming out (with my twenty-two hours in three days, of course) and the new Starset album, I've had a new Warcraft story mulling around in my head the last week or so, and I'd love to get that all written down in note form just to make sure I don't start losing all the story progress I've already accrued within my head._**

**_In any case, once again, thank you so much for reading! I hope to catch you elsewhere :D_**


	20. As Things Are Now

Mipha's head remained buried toward her chest, tucked inside her legs as her arms pulled them close, cloistered as she was in the corner of the ever-darkening prison she'd been stuck into. It had only been a handful of hours, and yet, those same hours felt like days- days she'd been stripped from her company of friends. Daruk's hearty, boisterous laughter, which seemed to liven up even the most esoteric of spirits that blotted the world around them, had already started to fade from her immediate memory, needing to recall with more and more brain power than usual. Urbosa's strength, Zelda's wits- even Revali's pithy commentary began to be missed by the Zoran princess now that she was forced to exist without such loved amenities. Link, especially…

The previous few day's events had done little to allow her mind to think of much else, as well. It had consumed the Champions like a vortex in the water, one that even Mipha's mighty fins could not break free from. After all, that vortex knew her all to well, she had surmised; without even a single conversation, that vortex knew her as a single drop in a limitless abyss of the oceans.

Such a thought sent a shiver down her spine.

A clanking arose at the doorway, though Mipha was too downtrodden to lift her head. Unless they were to gain entry, she felt little need to offer much of anything in the way of attention, especially since it more than likely was simply a wayward guard, come to view the Princess of the Zoras with their own eyes.

The presence of another unnerved her, particularly as she felt their seedy eyes upon her, though her curiosity began to arise. Aside from that initial noise to signal their arrival, they hadn't made a sound; they must have simply been standing there. Slowly, Mipha raised her head, allowing her eyes to break from beneath the crest of her forehead just enough to catch the vision of that dark figure whose unmistakeably red scales shone ghastly against the silhouette of the murky blackness of the prison ward.

"Princess," came a thickeningly deep voice that seemed to reverberate the very walls surrounding the two of them.

Mipha didn't reply, but didn't allow her eyes to fall either. They remained firm in their stare, which seemed a source of bemusement for the man despite his stoicism. His crimson scales glowed as his body wavered in the single ray of light that came in past the doorway, catching Mipha's eyes for a brief moment before they returned to his own in defiance.

"Do you mean to threaten me?" his voice bellowed evenly, "Even as you're sitting there, caged?"

Mipha replied with a voice as still as lake water, "Come in here and we'll see how threatening I can become."

The burly Zoran man allowed but a measly grin to stretch from a single edge of his lips, "I told Pakor that your imprisonment was to keep them out as much as it was to keep you in. I'm afraid their tales of you have become rather…"

He cleared his throat, "Unbecoming, I'll put it that way. I dread the thought of one of them getting any ideas."

Mipha challenged, still with a deadpan voice, "So you just came here just to share with me this disturbing information?"

"No," the man shook his head dismissively, "I brought you a meal. We can't have you withering away in here, can we?"

Mipha's brow furrowed, "_I_ can."

Such determined defiance forced the man to run a hand along his face in thought, "If you thought that information a second ago was worrisome- I _do_ know ways to get you to eat. Do not mistake my kindness for weakness."

Scoffing, Mipha shook her head, "Sorry, I missed out on your kindness _somewhere_ between your speech and my kidnapping."

"Only to keep you safe, Princess, I assure you," the man nodded, his voice still carrying no emotion, "I sat around those bonfires with my band for decades, all of them so loyal. We'd all scraped through the world to survive; but I know they'd need something to keep them going. So I regaled them with stories of Zora's Domain, the mighty mountains of Lanayru; how better everything would be when we finally returned home. After so long, however, even the strongest loyalties need be stoked."

The man's eyes narrowed, the ridge between his eyes bowing ever so slightly in a demonstration of how serious he was, "What my men have said about what they would do to you, the Princess of the Zora, once our return had occurred… You'd _best_ accept my generosity, before I decide to allow _them_ to decide how best to treat you."

He reached a hand through the grating of the cell door and dropped a Hylian carp to the ground with a _WHAP_, the creature still flopping around only weakly to signal its freshness, "I plan on creating a brighter future for our people. and I wouldn't have the slightest inhibition about having such a beauteously strong queen at my side. Perhaps, soon enough, you'll understand the advantages of taking to me more kindly."

The man turned his head down the hallway as if to check on something before returning his attention toward Mipha, "Let's just hope I don't have to bring my Niq in here to convince you just how respectful _I_ am."

With that, he bowed his head only in the most general of senses, as if honoring the title Mipha held rather than she as a being, before turning to leave, his Zoran feet paddling at the concrete floor below, a flash of cardinal-colored scales flashing as his dorsal fin blew behind him. Mipha's eyes remained fixed on the cell door until she was sure of his exit, the wooden door down the hallway slamming shut with a furious _BANG_, before Mipha allowed her brow to fall in sadness, dropping her head onto her knees defeatedly.

Link…

She thought of him. of his indomitable spirit that she so desperately wished she might be able to siphon from him through some netherous transmission, but it was merely a passing hope, much as all the others that passed by her mind as she sat in this dripping, murky cell. It had only been a week or two ago that the two of them had become something of lovers, though still in only the most uncertainly abstract of ways. Most of Mipha's life had been her learning about herself, about her body, her place in this world. Such a relief it was to find out that Link had much the same questions- perhaps the two of them could simply learn of these things together, among other things.

Now, these last two weeks had forced a world's worth of uncertainly upon Mipha's mind, just as she was beginning to gain some certainty of herself. Everything was making sense. and then _he_ showed up…

Her eyes slowly peeked toward the carp, thinking of her hunger, but also about how determined she was to remain belligerent at the cost of her hunger. Even more so, that vague threat made by that man. that man that was suppose to be-

Slowly, weakly, she hid her face behind her knees once more. She would refuse to eat, for now. Her mind flashed those red scales, thinking how quickly she'd noticed them upon first meeting that man- it was near instantaneous. For his red scales were all the identification a member of Zoran royalty required.

_That_ man. Her brother. Dolare, the Sundered Scale, Leader of the Niq.

* * *

"BLEEEECH!" came an engorged grumbling from Daruk as he hunched over a nearby stone, emptying his insides in a painful display of rejection while Link kept his attention on his feet so as to not ruin his boots while he patted his Brother's back.

"Sorry," the Hylian offered, "I guess I need to put a disclaimer on anything I cook: might not be suitable for everybody."

His projecting having ceased, Daruk simply rested there, panting heavily as he shook his head, "It smelled so good though; normally that's a decent sign."

Frowning, Link shrugged, "Well, maybe not. Feeling better?"

"Yeah," Daruk nodded before his enfeebled body worked its way upright, "That should be all of it."

Link nodded before guiding the massive Goron man back toward the campsite, "Alright then. Don't worry, just to make sure this doesn't happen again, I had the others sort out the ingredients- we'll start documenting them as dangerous whenever necessary. Trust me, it got Zelda's scholar-brain all excited."

A faint smile rested upon Daruk's face, "W-Well, so long as it makes her happy, I suppose."

"Don't give her that, please; it'll only encourage her," assured Link weakly, "She'll be throwing every plant, seed, or herb at you to figure out what all Gorons can't eat, and even then, not all Gorons are the same; she'll set up a buffet and a blind study up in Goron City to get all the results in. It's best we just end it right-"

"Daruk!" Zelda cried out in terror, rushing up toward the two and immediately embracing all that she could of the stone man with outstretched arms, "Are you okay?!"

The Goron nodded with a measly smile, "Y-Yes, of course. I'm Daruk the Unshaken, after all! Defender of-!"

He suddenly pushed Zelda away before wrapping his arms against his stomach, hunching over in quivering plain, "W-Well… I'll take the day off and be shook today, I suppose…"

Zelda frowned, "I hate to see you like this, but don't worry! We devised a makeshift lineup of everything Link put into that batch of soup, so we'll just-"

She noticed Link's sudden intense stare, "What?"

"Nothing," Link shrugged, "Just seemed as though you were blaming me there for a second."

Zelda's lips curled ambivalently, "I mean, you _are_ the chef, aren't you?"

"First off, no, I'm just a dude who cooks," Link shook his head, "Second, I don't recall doing much cooking when everybody was throwing everything but the kitchen crank in the pot."

Aghast, Zelda threw a hand against her chest as her mouth drew wide open in shock, "Are you blaming this entire Company?!"

"Sharing the blame amongst the entire group. Wow, a few days in and I'm already getting good at this," Link mused with a muted, feigned smile, "Now, Daruk, we've got everything sat out, so just-"

As they approached the camp, they found Mipha and Urbosa both bent over a flat-topped rock with magnifying glasses, examining the bevy of ingredients that sat in neat, organized piles these, though both of their movements seemed devoid of purpose. Link's brow curled inquisitively as he turned toward Zelda.

Intuiting his question, Zelda explained, "They're just giving each ingredient a once over."

"What do they expect to find?" Link asked, his voice lined with droll expression.

Urbosa answered instead, dropping her arms as she spoke up, "We don't even know what we _are_ doing. She just gave these to us and said to look out for anti-Goron agents at work."

"I would just like to know, if something here caused Daruk to fall ill, _why_ it did so," Zelda shrugged, "Perhaps, then, we could neutralize it, or even reverse it to make it beneficial!"

Deciding to leave Zelda to her hypotheses, Link simply guided Daruk up to the stone, allowing the Goron a moment to look over the ingredient splayed out, "Okay Daruk, do any of these look like the culprit?"

Daruk's eyes glazed over, "…you're kidding, right?"

Raising her head with her magnifying glass still in front of her eye, Mipha turned toward Revali as the Rito sputtered alive with a voice weakened with disbelief, his arms crossed with a forearm raised to allow his face to fall into his hand, "This is _the_ most _preposterous_ thing I've ever had the displeasure of witnessing. You do all know this is one of those things that makes me believe this whole venture is nothing more than a means to play a prank on me, correct?!"

"Yeah, yeah," Urbosa muttered in reply as Daruk began scrutinizing the array of ingredients, "Just be thankful we aren't _worse_."

The Champions, fresh off the far-reaching approval of the King of Hyrule, resulting from the legitimacy offered this quest by the Master Sword, now set their sights on Zora's Domain, or rather, the Reservoir above the Domain, where the Divine Beast Vah Ruto rested. After only a handful of minutes of deliberation, it was decided to be the next simplest Beast to examine, particularly after a rather impassioned speech by Zelda on the merits of biological beings not being subjected to volcanic temperatures, nor the brusque behavior of, essentially, a mechanical sky god. These objectives would prove easier to put aside for later.

Now, this Company found themselves heading east from Hyrule Castle, choosing to take the pass along Crenel Peak that would lead them along the Lanayru Highlands to Inogo Bridge, the first milestone to meet any visitors wishing to make the treacherous journey up the river. It was the kind of place where many rumors had sprung up indeed, the lot of them Zelda was privy to, thanks to her time spent in libraries reading some not-so-accurate accounts from time to time. Already, Mipha had been forced to correct her when Zelda proclaimed her excitement to see the octorocks that "waddle around on land".

Not long after subjecting Daruk to the ingredient lineup, Zelda was content with simply keeping a list with which they could eliminate items one by one as they arose, though she was adamant about uncovering more once the Company's quest was over, and even then, her curiosity over the standard Goron diet had been piqued.

"So," she began as she helped Urbosa slowly furl the tent, "How does your stomach even work? I mean, you're rock, right? Why would you even need to eat?"

"Bwah ha!" Daruk laughed, "Because-! Well, I don't know, really. There's no digestion, but we have mouths and can taste. Perhaps the goddesses, in their benevolence, simply created us with the ability to enjoy whatever foods this land could offer?"

Zelda's lips curled with curiosity, "But where does it end up?"

"By the goddess, are we really inquiring about this topic?" Revali complained.

Curiously, Zelda wondered, "But isn't it interesting?!"

"No," Revali flatly denied, "I would be more intrigued by the trappings of a stag beetle than _anything_ to do with his…functions."

Rather miffed by Revali's insistence, Daruk merely answered, "I mean, nothing really happens. I suppose everything just decomposes inside of us, or leaves us in some other way. Gorons aren't exactly the easiest beings to cut open and examine, you know."

"That's what makes you interesting, though!" Zelda exclaimed happily, "I've come across anatomy books for all the other major races of Hyrule- I mean, I've practically seen everybody here naked _and_ inside-out while delving through the literature. Everybody except Gorons, that is."

Pondering quietly to herself, Zelda tapped her foot against the ground, leaving Link to chide aloud, "She's thinking of how to find a Goron to cut open, isn't she?"

Daruk's eyes widened with a gasp as Zelda refuted, "I am not! …anymore."

"Ha ha, ever the little scholar," Urbosa chuckled easily as she readied the rucksack that contained the tent, strapping it to her own backpack, "Look, we've already got _one_ quest- and a sizeable one at that. One mystery at a time, please."

Zelda nodded, "I suppose you're right. Well, Mipha, Urbosa was sort of our point-guy last time, so I suppose you're up?"

"O-Oh!" Mipha replied nervously, eying Link in order to gain some courage, "I- I mean, once we reach the river, sure."

Smiling, Zelda nodded, "Awesome! We'll be counting on you."

Such a weight that was, Mipha thought. Still, such a feeling slowly began to be negating in the number of stolen glances Mipha took toward Link as the Company finished packing up their camp. Whenever she had a chance, she did her best to find him in her sight, having grown to yearn for that warmth within her chest whenever his eyes replied with a glance of his own. Ever since they'd kissed, affirmed their mutual desire to be closer to one another, it was all the Zora woman could think about now that this Hylian's warm body was little more than a few words away from being against her own. Oftentimes, it wasn't even words that separated them; on the way to the Crenel pass, Mipha would simply allow her gait to press closer to Link's, her scales catching the faintest bit of warmth exerted from Link's skin, until they were well behind the others (due in no small part to these distracted struts) when Link would eventually wrap an arm around Mipha's shoulders and pull her into a half-hug. These moments would very nearly cause Mipha to collapse between the warmth balled up in her stomach and the nerves.

The question of how secret their dealings needed to be didn't come up, probably due to how silly it was to even consider revealing such a thing. Even if she were no longer required to marry in the same way now afforded to her brother, Mipha was nevertheless royalty, and therefore expected to marry along similar lines. It was taboo enough for the Zora to ever consider forfeiting intraspecies relationships in favor of courting foreigners, but for a Princess? Such things might amount to heresy, Mipha already understood, as did Link. After all, to sacrifice the Zoran bloodline for somebody non-Zora was tantamount to genocide.

Of course, these were things to be left within the enclosed mountains of Lanayru, but even among the Company, the two were rather apprehensive of revealing much for fear of teasing, or worse, fear of the word getting out, particularly with the lot of them now advancing toward Zora's Domain. Simply to remain at ease, they decided to keep quiet, though it became progressively difficult during the course of all their stolen glances, and intensely so during the night when the temperature dropped and Mipha's very biology compelled her to hunt for warmth.

The most superior source of such things, to her, obviously being the man not two or three sleeping packs away.

And as the Company pressed on, this was the state of things between these two star-crossed lovers. Even as Zelda's request for her to lead seemed indomitable, Mipha now knew she wasn't alone to carry these weights of the world upon her shoulders. All she had to do was look toward Link, and he would be sure to nod in reply, if not outright smile for her, and she would feel as though she could conquer even those octorocks that waddled on land. Even as the Company pressed on, she couldn't help but mosey around camp for a brief moment, praying that Link was doing the same. They shared a quick kiss when nobody was looking.

And so it was.


	21. A Divine Test

Zelda's eyes continued to turn toward Link's back whenever he managed to walk ahead of her, her attention drawing along the tracing edges of the sword hanging from his shoulder, concealed as it was beneath a roll of fabric. She wished he would unfurl its encasing bolt of blessed linen and allow her full disclosure to gaze upon the Master Sword, though his ability to wield the sword meant he'd been chosen by the blade, and his will be done, even if it meant hiding the weapon from any prying eyes. Still, she couldn't help but stare whenever the feeling arose, trying to make out its shape beneath Link's rucksack.

Urbosa's speech broke the Princess from her trance, "Why don't you just touch it already?"

"W-What?!" Zelda sputtered in shock, though her embarrassment only further charged the innuendo that the others heard.

Her surprise successful, Urbosa laughed, "You keep checking out that sword every chance you get."

"Indeed, she does," Daruk nodded in elation of his observation, "Just the other night, I caught her with a spoon dangling from her mouth as we ate dinner, unable to tear herself away from the allure of holy metal."

Frowning at their presumed teasing, Zelda crossed her arms, "So? It was the first thing that got me into history. I mean, you can't blame me for being intrigued by it."

"I wasn't blaking you for your interest, but your inaction," Urbosa smirked, gesturing toward Link, "So long as the boy's a member of our Company now-"

Link's head rolled along his shoulders alongside a groan, "Three days. I figured I'd get at least a week in before you two began pulling the 'he's a member now' card…"

"Such power you have," Urbosa suggested lightly, brushing a hand against Zelda's shoulder.

Zelda frowned, "Even if he allowed me to see it unconcealed, it's not as if I could study it any differently than back at the castle. Only Link can wield it; it would merely leave my grasp were I to try."

"Pah, you speak of that accouchement as if it were alive and holding a personality," Revali complained.

Shrugging in reply, Zelda answered, "I mean, it kind of does. Not only does it choose who can wield it, but there are degrees to its acceptance or denial. If it finds you particularly unworthy, of even its presence, it's been known to draw soldiers clear away from the altar. Other times it allows some to view it, others can't catch a glimpse without a feeling of conviction compelling their leave."

Link's eyes turned toward Revali with a suggestive glance, leaving the Rito to frown, "I know what you're thinking, Hylian, and I presume to think you believe you're rather smart. I can assure you, no harm would come to me were I to come near the thing; how can the great Rito people _not_ be worthy of such a thing? and in particular, the most resilient of the Rito? Legends tell of _many_ powerful weapons wielded by the Rito; that sword of yours would cower against any number of them."

At words that might very well be sacrilege, Zelda's eyes widened in disbelief, even if she knew the Rito had little to no reverence for such relics, her attention drawing quickly toward the Master Sword as though to check to see if its feelings had been hurt. Link's glare turned rather mischievous as he watched Revali fluff up his plumage in a show of superiority, though it was Urbosa who offered the challenge.

"Well, there's only one way to find out, isn't there?" Urbosa shrugged, turning her head to hide a smirk.

Zelda's hands flew out from her sides, waving is quick dismissal, "That-! Our sacred relics are not toys to be trifled with! The Master Sword is not-! Link!"

Her mouth dropped as Link began sliding the sword's sheath from his shoulder, "Link! What do you think you're doing?!"

"I think preparing dinner," he smirked, "Fried cucoo with all the fixings, if what I think will happen truly happens."

At such bravado, Revali's scowl brightened tremendously into a fierce sneer of his own, "Look at the rostrum on _this_ Hylian! Presenting his weapon to facilitate my deconstruction of its power!"

The Rito began rubbing the palms of his paws together as Link unraveled the fabric concealing the sword, all the while leaving Zelda to having spun away, covering her face as if to hide from such lack of decorum. Mipha looked on from afar, her brow rising as the sword appeared from within its linen safeguard, its sheath doing little to reflect the magnificent blade held within. Her lips pursed with intrigue, even as Zelda began to chide.

"Y-You-! You said it would remain only with you at all times!" she spoke up in a rush, having looked over her shoulder for only a brief moment.

Urbosa reached over to pat the Princess on her shoulder, scoffing, "It isn't going anywhere."

"Oh, the Gerudo speak falsehoods," Revali challenged happily, "As per Rito tradition, should you take a weapon into the sky, it becomes your own. I'm all too excited to claim this weapon as my own; all the better to cease all discussion of it being better than any Rito artifact."

Link carefully rested the sheathed weapon on a nearby rock, stepping away with his fists resting atop his hips while his eyes skeevily narrowed up toward Revali in expectation. The Rito proudly raised his arms into the air, cocking his head toward Daruk.

"Goron, please remove the pack from my shoulders," he ordered, his attention still on the sword.

Daruk did so, his expression more in curiosity than anything else, wanting to see just how true the words were of this weapon's power. He held Revali's backpack to his side while watching the Rito rolling his shoulders, stepping up toward the lone rock which now held the Master Sword, his big talk finally about to add to his prestige- his children's children would be telling tales of his renown, beginning with this moment here; demonstrating his dominance over the most notable symbols of privilege levied to Hyrule by the gods, a symbol used for generations to the benefit of Hyrule rather than the Rito.

"Observe," Revali spoke up as he strode toward the sword, earning him a smirk from Link.

Mipha's lips quivered in worry, unsure of what exactly would happen. Would he literally burst into flame?! She looked toward Urbosa, whose crossed arms belied her own grinning face, much to the Zora's immense terror. For her own part, Urbosa was merely happy to witness Revali's pride being checked, by an inanimate object no less. Though, behind her amused expression, she wondered if the same was true of Link, or if the Hylian was legitimately happy of the prospect of this man being somehow punished by the sword, particularly now that Link no longer had that barrier of not exactly being on the same level when it came to his membership within the Champions.

Zelda's own curiosity got the better of her, as well as a bit of worrisome expectation, her hand grasping the blanket beneath her backpack, just in case it was needed to smother any flames, despite the fact that nothing of the sort had ever happened to anybody attempting to take the sword into their grasp.

As Revali approached the sword, every step of his weakened Link's determined expression, the Rito's gait taking him closer to the weapon than Link ever thought he would end up. If Revali was worried, Link couldn't read it upon his face; Revali's face remained as tenacious as when he started, even now as he stood above the blade, staring down upon it as if his elevated stare was a demonstration of superiority.

To be sure, Revali's insides were aquiver, roiling with worry as he mulled over actually reaching down and taking the sword. Remaining composed in the face of such nerves was nothing of a challenge by this point in his life. He remembered not a week or so ago, taking flight in that sandstorm in the face of lightning barreling toward him, with only his determination shielding him.

He remembered how terrified he was, yet he went on.

"I'm not awaiting further invitation," Revali spoke up, cracking the joints in his neck before throwing his hand toward the blade, "This sword belongs to-"

His speech came to a sudden halt, characterizing his immense shock that matched much the same emotion within all the others. Link's eyes flew open in surprise; Zelda's hands were atop her face, tears forming at her eyes from the already churning emotions within her, now punctuated by Revali's talonous hands gripping the handle of the sword.

"W-" Urbosa managed quietly, her loss of words as unbecoming of her as the lock of horrified surprise upon her face, "What?"

Revali's expression varied very slightly, his eyes looking around as though to check if he was sincerely in reality, before his face jumped up to meet Link's aghast expression, the Rito never one to shy away from showboating; his surprise immediately melting into elation.

"Wah ha! How about that?!" Revali charged with a boisterous voice, the plumes at his neck still curled from either terror or excitement, "I done told you, Hylian! The Rito have been subjugated beneath the weight of this weapon for long enough! With this blade in my grasp, I will-!"

"Try lifting it up, genius," Link drolly instructed, his surprise having left quickly enough for him to examine the situation fully.

Sure enough, while his grip was fierce around the Master Sword's handle, Revali was still hunched low to meet its place atop the small boulder, this new challenge forcing Revali to curl his lips determinately, "I was getting to that! Behold, my-! My-!"

The muscles in his arm bolstered as he tugged, the sword refusing to obey as he did so. It was as though he were yanking at some earthen beam ejected from the side of a cliff face; no matter what he did, from whatever angle, the blade failed to budge, resting atop the stone in sheer defiance of physical laws, much to Revali's frustration.

Urbosa sighed, wiping the sweat from her brow, "False alarm, everybody."

"N-No!" commented Zelda as she rushed toward the sword, crouching down to examine where Revali's body met the blade, even as the Rito continued growling with boisterous effort, "For the rarity of somebody wielding this blade, somebody simply taking it like this is just about as rare! Even this hasn't been witnessed for generations, not until my father attempted it! This is truly amazing!"

"Amazing?!" Revali sputtered angrily, yanking mightily enough that Daruk was worried he'd dislocate his shoulder, "I would _not_ define this as-!"

With another intense tug, Revali's grip slipped and he stutter stepped backwards, attempting to catch himself with his feet before falling and slamming into the ground, quickly pushing himself to his feet to lessen the time he was atop the soil and immediately brushing his tail feathers as he kept his gaze low, averting the glances from the others, even if they were mostly in worry.

"…This means nothing," was all he'd say as he continued his truncated preening.

Zelda's rabid curiosity continued, her attention now turning toward Urbosa, "You! Come here!"

"I beg your pardon?!" Urbosa replied incredulously.

With a rushed voice, as though data points were a drug, Zelda explained, "Just try and grab it, too."

"Are you serious?!" challenged Urbosa, "Didn't you _just_ say that this thing was _not_ a toy?"

"Science is not a game!" Zelda explained before turning toward Daruk, "How about you? Wanna try?"

Daruk gave something of a weary glance before shrugging, "I cannot deny my curiosity over this weapon's composition. I will happily assist you if it means acquainting me as such!"

Gleefully enough, Zelda clapped her hands together as she remained seated directly beside the sword, with even Link growing rather lost in disbelief at her sudden about face from moments earlier. Sure enough, Daruk's hand rested along the Master Sword's grip, much to his elation, not so much in his ability to do so, but in its implication that he was a part of something larger than himself, it seemed.

"Whoa!" he exclaimed, "What, does this mean I was the right choice for this venture?"

Zelda rubbed her jaw as her eyes narrowed in inquiry, "I suppose so. I can't think of much else being the reason, honestly. Perhaps the sword understands what's going on, and you all being party with its wielder, is acknowledging the roles you all play at his side?"

Further investigation was necessary, as signaled by her still-ferocious curiosity, leaving Zelda to return to Urbosa, "You. Now."

Scoffing, Urbosa acquiesced, perhaps due to her own nerves having somewhat been quelled by two people's inconsequential taking of the sword, "Fine, fine. Just don't blame me if it tears my arm off, or- Huh."

Much like the others, her hand took the blade without incident, though her jolting movements to lift it were also met with disobedience by the blade, leaving her to muse, "Belligerent little sword, isn't it?"

"This- This is amazing!" Zelda finally quipped, as though the gravity of the situation was finally settling in, "I thought the sword choosing Link was merely destiny taking place, but-! But this entire venture of ours, it _must_ be divined just the same, right?! or at least accepted as righteous by some deity, right?!"

She leapt to her feet excitedly, quickly turning toward Mipha, who jumped in surprise by Zelda's rabid behavior, "Mipha, quick! You've gotta try it!"

"I- I don't think-" Mipha weakly acknowledged, much to Zelda's impatience in the face of knowledge.

"C'mon! You're a Champion as well; it'll work for you, too!" Zelda explained as she grabbed hold of the sword herself to double check its efficacy and finding herself still able to do so.

Urbosa shrugged as she smiled reassuringly toward Mipha, "It's a nice feeling. You can't lift it, but you can still feel its weight in the palm of your hand. There's many eons in that blade; how often do you get a chance to clutch something like that?"

Still unsure, Mipha nervously rubbed her hands up and down her sides before slowly stepping toward the sword, with Zelda goading her on as she did so. Her eyes raised just enough to break underneath her crest, catching Link's eyes upon her with expectation, the softest smile greeting her as she watched him, leading to a similar expression from her, albeit lessened by the gravity of the situation surrounding her. Still, it brought a warmth to her heart, helping to melt away her insecurities as she came up to the sword, looking over it, scrutinizing its mighty frame, even despite its raggedy sheath.

"By the gods, how exciting is this?" Zelda was still musing aloud, "Forget Link being the…well, link between this Company and its divine mission; this is, like, a link between us all!"

Link replied with bemusement, "About how long were you waiting to use my name like that?"

Giggling slightly, Zelda answered, "Nearly as long as I've known you. Every time you mention how I should do my morning calisthenics, I want to say you're the 'link' between my dad and me."

A droll expression met her, leaving Zelda to laugh even more, though it stopped immediately upon realizing what was happened outside of their conversation. A cold, sharp pain caught her in the chest as she noticed Mipha's face, clouded with tears as her hand remained hanging in the air, seemingly unable to advance toward the sword's hilt. Her body visible strained as she pushed herself forward, only to be met with some unseen resistance, leaving her teeth to grit in pain as she desperately attempted to hold back her tears while violently attempting to take the sword herself.

A whimper escaped her as she made one final push, but to no avail. In defeat, her muscles lost their strain, seemingly in time with her furious resistance against crying, but not, her determination waned, she stood there with her head bowed low, clutching her torso with her arms with shaking shoulders, shivering as tears fell to the ground.

"I-" Zelda desperately attempted, but to no avail, her voice falling as quickly as it had arisen.

Urbosa stepped toward the anguished Zora and slowly allowed her arms to embrace her, hoping to offer something of comfort as the group began to sort out what all had just transpired. While the lot of them were merely thinking of the Champions themselves, as well as the Master Sword, Link's heart ached, intuiting what Mipha herself must have been torturing herself over at the moment. After their kiss, he knew their fates were tied; it was a conclusion he would have fought and died for.

But why, then, did this fate now seem so at odds with his destiny?


	22. The Tracings of Two Lost Kids

The mood remained somber as night fell upon Hyrule, the Champions making up camp in near silence with Mipha's anguish permeating throughout the entirety of the group. For all their differences, Mipha had, from the beginning, been the one of the group who'd truly bound them all together in her cordial, quiet manner, even when it came to Revali, who remained rather quiet himself, though that might have simply been to follow the other's lead. Even then, her friendly gesture back in the desert of the Gerudo had endeared him somewhat to her, and her sadness wasn't lost on him.

Atop the ridge that just created along the higher edge of Northern Lanayru Lowlands, they had worked their way off the path to set up camp, now imbibing in dinner despite the shaken atmosphere. Mipha remained distant, citing her waning appetite before meandering off to be alone, much to the others' distress, though they ultimately figured she needed time alone, and even then, they needed time to talk themselves.

"I just hate it for her," Urbosa muttered somberly as she stirred her bowl of soup with a lazy cadence, "Poor thing. She's placed so much importance on such a trivial thing. relatively speaking, anyway."

Daruk peered off into the distance to try and find her amidst the rocky landscape, shrouded in shadow, before taking another bite of his own meal, "You think she'll start feeling better soon?"

"Not likely," Urbosa shrugged, "Even if it's trivial, there's more to it than just holding a sword. We all did something she couldn't; even before the importance of the act, that already paints her as an outcast, through no fault of our own."

Frowning as he stared sadly into his bowl, his soup absent of disruption, Daruk went on, "I just think shed feel better eating something with us. That usually does the trick for me."

"She just needs time," Link assured, crouched over the pot of simmering porridge with his hand carefully roaming along with a ladle dipping within his cauldron, "She does her best thinking alone, away from our loud mouths."

The mild slurping from Revali dipping his face into his bowl grew to a fever pitch as he pulled away, staring Link down with a cool voice, "I was told by _your_ Princess to point out whenever I feel as though I'm being transgressed upon."

Link shrugged, "I said _our_ loud mouths. _Our_."

Seemingly content with his enunciation, Revali slowly lowered his head to finish his soup before Link mumbled loud enough for the Rito to hear, "I only _implied_ that it was you."

In an act of defiance, Revali turned his bowl over to allow the remaining broth to spill onto the ground before sitting the porcelain dish onto the ground, turning his nose up as he muttered, "Apologies."

"Okay, you two," Urbosa groaned, taking the reins, "Cut it out. Everybody's a bit down in the dumps, let's just-"

Link's indifference caught Urbosa off guard, allowing him to interject, "Why? It's like a wake out here. Look, Mipha's the strongest person I know- that I've _ever_ known. Sure she's down, but she always comes back better for it."

Urbosa glared at him with uncertainty, simply taking him at his word as she sighed, huddling over her own bowl with dismissal, "If you say so. You know her better than-"

"No, no…" came Zelda's gentle voice, forcing Urbosa's attention away from the others to find the Princess presiding over a stone cold bowl of soup without a single bite having been taken.

Urbosa frowned, "Ever the scholar. Even scholars eat, you know."

Jolting to attention, Zelda's wide eyes turned up toward the others, "Oh, uh, sorry. I was just thinking."

"About food?" Daruk joked, hoping go improve the situation as gingerly as he could, now that he had something of Link's permission to do so, "That's about the only thing that can keep _me_ from eating!"

Zelda shook her head, "Not food, just- The Master Sword was the first thing that _really_ grabbed my interest, you know? got me into studying as much as I have. I constructed all these ideas, basically theorems, surrounding the sword's behavior, but- After today, it just seems like all that time was wasted."

"How do you mean?" Urbosa inquired.

"Well, it was something akin to psychology, just- on a sword," admitted Zelda with a shaky voice, signaling her awareness at how silly it sounded, "I mean, I was pretty naïve as a child, but if I've been sitting here thinking. After what happened earlier, I don't know, I always thought it was stupid, but maybe there's something to all that. Think of it this way-"

She paused, scratching her chin in thought, "We know the Master Sword is divinely created to withstand any test of time. It has marks of alteration, yet remains a singular piece. Were the Goddesses to make such a creation, what good would it be to remain unchanging when everything around us is doing the opposite? Why wouldn't the Sword be given something like a consciousness to allow it to change itself? I thought about this just the other day- What if Link was dead and-"

"Excuse me?" Link interjected with incredulity.

Zelda was quick to reassure him, "It was just a thought ex-"

"Link, you'd best watch out," Daruk laughed, "Even I have noticed how she glares at you with the blankest of expressions."

Widened eyes met the others as Zelda shone shock, leaving Urbosa to laugh, "Leave it to our scholar to have no tact when it comes to such devious plans."

"They're not-" Zelda groaned, having already recognized their teasing and deciding to simply relinquish any reaction to such things, "Look, if Link had died, or _anybody_ upon whom Hyrule's destiny was entrusted-"

Urbosa wondered in interruption, "But if it's destiny, as you propose- how would a chosen one even be such if not guided by some divine force?"

"You mean that, to be chosen is to be made immortal so as to carry out the goddesses' plans?" Daruk opined.

Urbosa's glance suddenly turned toward Link, whose stirring motion suddenly halted under the combined weight of stars coming from her and Daruk, "…what?"

Urbosa quickly explained, "Nothing! Though, now we know why Zelda was planning on attacking you in your sleep."

"I wasn't-!"

"Bwah ha! Her experiments certainly have taken a dark turn!" Daruk laughed heartily.

Having crossed her arms in irritation, Zelda frowned, "Okay, so _no_, that's _not_ what I was planning. It was a _thought_ _experiment_, alright? If, _IF_, Link had died- if _any_ of the heroes of old had died- would the Master Sword had been so obstinate so as to not allow somebody else to wield it? Obviously not, otherwise a darkness would have already fallen upon our world so myasmic that our very ancestors would have choked from that absence of the light."

"So what are you saying?" Link wondered aloud, his voice feigning interest while his mind was sincere in inquiry.

Zelda's lips tightened for a moment, "The Master Sword is guided by some consciousness, one that knows to change its…thoughts in accordance to the shifting world around it. Had we not began this journey, perhaps these three might not have acquired that level of ability to handle the Sword."

"That still leaves the problem we were faced with upon the onset of this very conversation," Urbosa shrugged, taking a sip of her broth in a show of the dramatic, "The Sword still refused Mipha's touch."

Zelda sighed weakly, dropping her head, "That's true. Even if that might change in the future, it still means little more than the idea that she is lesser than us. Somehow she isn't worthy of-"

Catching herself, Zelda's eyes jumped toward Link, watching his emotionless face staring into his cauldron with but the faintest sensation of yearning in his eyes. She felt a chill, wondering what might be going through the man's mind; she hadn't known him to be one capable of such things as companionship, at least beyond that kind that is compelled by authority, but here he was, Zelda knew, in something of a relationship with Mipha, who now seemed as much an outcast as Link had a week earlier. Perhaps he felt something of an affinity with her as a result, or maybe something else entirely.

"_Worthy_. Pah," Daruk grumbled languidly, steadily eating from his Bowl, "We Gorons know nothing of worthiness, at least when it comes to the divine. Our history is strewn about with great beings who did not wait for the call of divine right! They barred their teeth and hoistened their muscles and etched their very names into our history! I ought to go tell her that she needn't wait for that Sword, or anybody's, approval to carve out her own history!"

Revali sputtered in gawking skepticism, "Ah yes, regale her of those great Gorons who refused to part with their most valuable wares until passers-by learned their dance moves- I cannot believe my mind has left a spot where that information lies…"

Still heated, Daruk all but ignored the Rito's complaint, continuing, "My earliest teachers, they all told me, again and again, that those Goron heroes were aberrations- that I shouldn't seek the same fortune for myself- that _no_ Goron should! My father, Komimba, he- he-"

Visibly shaking with frustration, Daruk hunched over as he raised a hand, rubbing the tips of his fingers just enough to begin sprinkling the tiniest of particles from their abrasions, "He told me, son- Son, you are nothing but rock and sand. Don't dare invite death by thinking otherwise. I hate the thought of Mipha feeling the way I felt."

He dropped his head with a sigh, "I wish I hadn't ever attempted to grab that sword."

His words tugged at the research centers of Zelda's brain, a frown making it's way to her face as she replied quietly, "I mean, it sucks, but- If I've found out anything, it's that knowing more isn't always fun, but it's necessary to protect ourselves. to protect everyone."

"You have a point," Urbosa nodded, "Though I doubt everybody would agree the tradeoff is worth it. There are still pockets of unrest by Hylians upset over your Kingdom funding those massive excavation projects."

A knowing grin crossed her face, "I think most people would be happy in that bliss of not knowing what they ought to."

Revali cleared his throat, "I do believe I'm feeling transgressed upon again."

"I assure you," Urbosa chuckled, rising to her feet with her bowl in hand to make her way toward the fire for seconds, "That says much more about you than it does me, Rito."

Revali rolled his head along his shoulders in bemusement while Urbosa crouched down opposite Link around the cauldron, taking the ladle from him before working up another helping. Her attention remained on the soup she was collecting, though shifted upward toward Link as her eyes jumped upward, catching his distant glance with amusement, hiding a smirk as she carefully lifted up her next portion.

"Y'know," she muttered quietly, the crackling flames disguising her voice from the others, "Even the strongest among us don't mind a helping hand once in a while."

Link's eyes lit back to reality as he watched the Gerudo with confusion, unable to ascertain what she was getting at. Her smirk no longer hidden, Urbosa simply poured her next helping before dropping the large spoon into the cauldron, allowing her attention to fall wholly onto Link.

"Especially when it's somebody they're infatuated with."

Suddenly, a groan escaped Link as his face took on a droll expression, "How much did she tell you?"

"Enough," Urbosa grinned, "You should already know Zelda tells me everything."

Attempting to hide his face by burying his head toward his chest, Link shook his head in disbelief of his impudence, though Urbosa was quick to cheer him up, "Come on now. You might as well make the best of this sticky situation and take her some soup, see if she's okay. Someone as cheery as she doesn't do such things without reason."

Link remained stoic in his stubbornness, resulting from such a blind-sided revelation, though in a moment's passing, he raised his head before standing up, "Daruk."

"Wha-?! Why me?!" cried the Goron, leaving Link's eyes to widen in surprise.

An awkward air permeated for a brief moment before Zelda spoke up to ease the atmosphere, "I, uh, just asked who among us denizens of Hyrule would ever attempt to dissuade the goddess' authority over the Master Sword, but-…"

Link sighed, his shoulders visibly slumping in defeat before explaining further, "Daruk. I liked your idea about taking Mipha some soup, so I'll handle that."

The group was met with a rather odd sound, that of Revali suddenly breaking into something of a genuine laugh, his body slouching forward as he held his stomach, "Bwah ha ha! Ha!"

Swiping away a tear, he spoke up with dour glee, "Your misunderstandings amuse me greatly! Please, continue to unknowingly denigrate one another in my presence!"

Link turned toward Zelda, "Okay, now _I_ feel slighted."

Groaning, Zelda refused to give much of anything in the way of a formal reply, simply allowing the others to continue their charged teasing amongst one another, "Just- go make sure Mipha's okay, alright?"

"Yes ma'am!" Urbosa answered for him with a tattered giggle, attempting to disguise her exhilaration, "He'd be thrilled to do so, wouldn't you?"

Link forced a severe glance toward her, which only seemed to bring forth even more laughter to be stifled, before readying another bowl of soup and turning off to where Mipha had gone to seek solitude, ignoring any further demands upon his irritation.

The darkness clouded his vision immediately upon treading away from the camp, the chilly air also greeting him simultaneously upon exiting the campfire's inviting air. The bowl in his hands seemed that much more scalding now that the cold air bit at his skin, and in an attempt to keep warm, he brought the soup up high for the steam to rise against his face, even if such a practice did little in the open air. He knew the night air rolled fierce down from the Eldin Mountains; such sweltering heat rising up to cool before charging down the mountainside to rush over the landscape of the Lanayru Lowlands, which was little more than a basin of winter-like air no matter the season.

The chilly air of this locale often greeted a contented Link whenever he came across this portion of Hyrule, though tonight, for whatever reason, the cold was less welcoming to him than it often was. Perhaps he was thinking of Mipha's cold blood battling these elements, such a thought rattling his nerves to begin with, the idea forcing his own body to grow more frigid than normal. In any case, he regretted not having the forethought to bring a blanket to accompany the soup he'd made sure to bring in offering.

He grinned at the thought: _in_ _offering_. Were she any other friend, this gesture would have been auspicious at best; he'd simply be ensuring his friends were as well off as he to keep the collective as strong as possible- it was simply a matter of being in Link's best interest. Now, however, with Mipha, it became something far more meaningful, something he hadn't ever come to know.

His steps had taken him far enough that he'd begun to question his direction, gradually increasing the swings of his head in lookout before coming to a complete stop as his body slowly turned in place, only pausing at the solemn timbre of Mipha's voice crossing his ear just before being overpowered by the gentle breeze surrounding him.

"Hey."

Link followed the softened sound to a small enclosure made in the cliffside where Mipha had made her temporary shelter away from the bellowing winds, the soldier's gait cautious as to not spill anything while traversing the rocky ground beneath his feet.

"Hey," Link replied in unison, "I brought you some soup, so- Figured I'd check up on you."

A loose smile found its way to Mipha's lips, "I was sort of surprised they hadn't had a search party out hunting me down."

"Yeah, well; Daruk might have headed such a thing, but cooler heads prevailed," Link shrugged before bowing forward to offer his culinary creation to Mipha, "Speaking of cooler heads- That ought to warm you up. Should you be this far removed from a fire in this cold?"

Mipha examined the frothy mixture with quiet expectation, tugging at the think blanket around her shoulders, "I should be fine."

Nodding in reply, Link took a seat beside the wayward Zora as she gently took hold of her spoon, her delicate movement accompanying her words as she spoke up, "I know I look it, but- I know they all think I'm not all that strong or capable."

"Probably," Link scoffed, smirking in recollection, "They wouldn't exactly be the first ones. Might as well be a pattern for you, wouldn't it? Who was it- We were kids and that one Zora boy was giving you flack for being a princess wanting to play whatever it was. I think that just made you more angry that you weren't included."

Mipha nodded, her pursed lips blowing atop her spoon allowing her to conceal a crooked grin, "He had it coming for telling me I was "little lithe pole", really."

Smiling, Link dropped his head as he relaxed his posture, leaning back against the stone wall behind him while quietly keeping to himself, listening to the weak, polite slurping coming from Mipha's tasting. Her insides immediately lit up with warmth as the broth noticeably traced down into her stomach, the rushing sensation forcing Mipha's scales to shiver in surprised delight. She eyed the soupy mixture with awe, wondering how it was this proper soldier had managed to create something so unbecoming of the craft.

"Thank you," she spoke up quietly.

"Anytime," Link assured easily.

She took another, heartier bite as the two of them sat together quietly, with Mipha enjoying Link's company, particularly due to his body heat being just noticeable enough that her fins quivered whenever she noticed his radiating energy upon her scales. For his part, Link simply enjoyed listening to Mipha's eating growing ever more improper as she hastened her bites, possibly due to how tasty she'd found his dish. He did his best to hide a grin after a particularly sour slurp escaped her routine, forcing her to jump in surprise.

"S-Sorry!" she apologized at the ungraceful occurrence, though Link was quick to assure her of the opposite.

Shaking his head, Link replied, "Please, the others eat like fiends after a long day's trek. You could pour that thing over your face and hold more decorum, still."

The imagery enough to bring her humor, Mipha giggled lightly at the thought, "It _is_ good though. I hate the thought of it losing its warmth."

"There's plenty more over the fire for when you're ready to come back to camp," Link explained, "Assuming Urbosa and Daruk haven't licked the insides of cauldron dry."

His eyes turned up toward her, "You _are_ returning, correct?"

"Of course!" Mipha quickly interjected, though her rising voice was bellied by her sudden return to her dour mood, "I just-…"

Link watched her with furrowed brow, "Hey. What's up? Are you feeling okay?"

"Yeah," Mipha assured quickly before taking in a sigh, "I mean- Yeah. I'm okay…"

Uncertain how to progress, Link remained silent as Mipha's slumped frame hung over her meager meal, his eyes watching her sadly as he recalled that miserable look she'd had after being denied the Master Sword earlier in the day. He didn't feel defeated, but knew better than to force an answer upon her, deciding that him simply being there might be enough to quell whatever nerves were within her. Such foreign ideas to Link as relationships with others, he now surmised, left him with little in the way of intuiting what to do in such situations. As solitude returned between the two, Link grasped at his sword, tapping its opposite end into the dirt absent-mindedly as he thought of what to say, his eyes fixed upon the shining blade that just escaped the sheath every time he raised it from the soil.

"You know, on my way over here, I was thinking," Link muttered quietly, "If I just took this sword- and threw it. as hard as I could. If I threw it clear across Hyrule, even. Would it somehow find me again? Even if it took years, would it be discovered somewhere, bartered around, with some divine force compelling me to find it in a shop somewhere."

Mipha's eyes watched him curiously as he went on, "I don't know; it's just a thought. I just-"

He felt a biting cold nipping at his spine, wondering for the briefest of moments whether or not it was the Sword communicating with him somehow, "I spent my entire life fulfilling what I thought was my destiny, and now-"

His hands lifted the sword upward, "Now this thing comes into my life. It's supposed to give me some higher purpose, I suppose, but- I think I feel more lost than I ever did when I was a knight."

Slowly dropping the sword back toward the ground, his grip tightened as his voice returned, lowly enough, "Seeing it cause you pain, I just- It wasn't a good feeling."

The blustery wind howled with every pass before the small indention of rock in which the two sat, the cold ever worsening as the night progressed. Mipha's heart tugged at the thoughts roiled about in her head, thinking of her declaration to Zelda about just how high in regard she'd been holding Link, especially when it came to something of a destiny. Even after figuring out he'd loved her too; even after feeling his lips upon her own. She cared for little more than Link's future, which carried infinitely more stock alongside the Master Sword than with her. Perhaps that had been what had hurt so much about earlier in the day…

"Really…Link," Mipha spoke up weakly, "If the time ever arose… You should toss me away before that Sword."

Link's attention quickly jerked toward her with a start, "What-? Mipha, I'd-"

"That Sword is more important than I'll ever hope to be. If we're talking only of logistics," Mipha grinned with a heart wrenching subtlety, "As any good knight should-"

Link held the Master Sword up with a vigor that forced Mipha to pause with surprise, thinking that he might toss it, though his motion was only accompanied by a swift, serious voice, "This Sword knows I won't do that- Throw it away, I mean. If I'm able to carry this thing, that means it somehow knowingly tied itself to me as much as I bound my own fate to it when I lifted it from its altar."

"Now," Link went on seriously, lowering the Sword and cautiously resting it on the rocky ground, "I love you. I've always been wildly obsessed with the mere chance of being able to see and be around you. That's non-negotiable, so- That Sword is just going to have to learn that, regardless of its poor taste or judge of character, I'm never leaving your side."

Mipha grim smile remained, though a slight giggle at Link's sudden boyishness helped soften its place along her lips, "You're arguing with an inanimate object."

"Yeah, well-" Link suddenly stammered, realizing how ridiculous it had sounded, "Zelda has some ideas that that might not be the case. She was thinking it can change who it, you know, 'likes', just in case somebody who's _supposed_ to wield it dies or something. Basically, there might be more to this thing, but-"

He steeled his resolve, chivalry pouring from his tone, "I would still argue with inanimate objects for you."

Finally broken from her spell, overcome by Link's serious tone contrasting with how silly his words were, Mipha gave a quick start before laughing, leaning forward as she held onto her stomach from the sheer severity of the boisterous sensation. Link simply smiled as he watched her, quickly reaching over to grab hold of her soup bowl before it vibrated free of her grasp.

"I- I-" she managed between breathless gasps, "I never knew knights were afforded such things as humor."

Shrugging, Link replied, "Well, you should already know how- what was it- how 'uncouth' I am for a Royal Knight. "

Mipha's eyes met his as her face was still greeted by joyful spasms of laughter, thinking of that night they shared at the oasis, "I suppose 'unbecoming' might be more appropriate. That's not as negative, I don't think."

"Perhaps," Link nodded, turning away to hide his face, "Regardless, I've long grown to admire your smile, so- Just seemed natural I'd figure out how to keep it showing."

Mipha's lips curled into a sincerely heartfelt smile as she watched him toying with his fingers in his vain attempt at feigning just how cute he was sounding to her. For how much her heart panged at his loyalty and ferocity, it was these moments, the quietest among them, where she had grown to love these hidden shades that so often rested in the shadows of all the personalities Link often surrounded himself with, whether it be a troupe of soldiers, or the Champions themselves.

"You know," began Mipha with a solemn tone, turning her head to match Link's as she followed the stony earth at her feet trailing in zig zags beneath her fins, "Ever since I left Zora's Domain, and I met Daruk on the road to Sanadin Park- Being with all of you is so fun and lively and-…

She paused, "…it's truly been the best days of my life."

Link smiled at her admittance, hoping that, in his own way, he'd done something, even before his own 'official' joining, to increase this wayward Zora's enjoyment of the world. He was helping her learn to write Hylian, which he figured would be a bore, though even that seemed to entice Mipha, who was all too happy to learn such things. How odd she was, he thought to himself for a brief moment, to find amusement in dueling with tridents while also seeking out the quill for her own enjoyment. It was a contrast Link often found in himself, caught between his life as a soldier and the many lives he now found himself caught in between.

"With you…" Mipha managed only barely, her voice lined with uncertainty, and a pang of embarrassment, "Being with you, it's- These have truly been the best nights, as well."

Link couldn't hold back a smile.

He turned toward her only to find her having pulled her blanket up and over her head to hide her embarrassment, which only caused Link to smirk with amusement, "Mipha-"

"S-Sorry!" she quickly allowed, though immediately reverted to silence as her shame consumed her.

"I feel the same way," Link assured easily, holding back a reassuring hand to avoid startling her.

At that admission, Mipha slowly began to bring down her guard, the thick quilt sliding ever so delicately down her crimson-scaled head, stopping only as her eyes peered out overtop the blanket's end, "R-Really?"

"Unless you thought me getting into frigid water was just for fun, then really," Link assured once more with a smile, "I never thought I'd ever really have this kind of- connection with somebody else. Much less somebody so fun and pretty. Somebody I admire."

At the sudden reappearance of Link's shades of personality, Mipha relinquished the rest of her clothen guard, allowing the blanket to fall back to her shoulders as she averted her eyes, "Well… Thank you for the, uh… thought, I suppose. I'll remind you that I'm about as new to this as you are, so-"

"I understand," Link noted with a nod, "That's what makes it fun, though."

Watching the craggy soil below, Link allowed a soft chuckle at the scene playing out between the two of them, which might have seemed an odd pantomime of sorts to anybody else in attendance. For Link though, and perhaps for Mipha herself, it was something far more heartfelt. They'd known one another for most of their lives, or rather, most of Link's, and yet- When it came to love- Link hadn't known much of it growing up with his dutiful parents, while Mipha's loss of her mother seemed to have had something of a similar effect when Link thought about it. Regardless, these two were strangers to love, and yet here they were, in their own way, attempting to create something of a roadmap between two hearts never meant to be joined, anyway.

Link's ears perked up, jolting him awake from his thoughts, as he turned to find Mipha's outstretched arm, holding out her blanket in invitation as she held back something of what might be a blush, her only explanation being, "You, uh, must be cold, right?"

Smiling, Link nodded, "Yes, very much so."

Mipha shivered at his acceptance of her gesture, her scales tingling as Link slowly slid across the small indention of rock they'd been using as seating. Even before their bodies met at the side, she could feel the air around her begin to warm, in something of a preemptive breath and all that might entail. Her fins shook, which forced a rather shameful jolt to gush across Mipha's neck. As carefully as a child meeting a pet for the first time, Link managed as close as he dared, grabbing hold of the opposing edge of the blanket to hold around his shoulder, though quickly discovering that it hadn't exactly been made large enough for such camaraderie. Knowing Mipha's biology, he simply left himself largely uncovered, not daring to steal any warmth from Mipha, though her eyes quickly darted to his far side to discover this all for herself.

"Sorry," she spoke up, "I wasn't even thinking that might be the case."

Link smiled, "It's no big deal."

Frowning in reply, Mipha's eyes turned fierce, "I _know_ I'm like an ice cube."

"So?" Link smirked back in verbal battle, "I _know_ I'm like a ball of embers. We cancel each other out, although, as Zelda herself might explain, heat is energy anyway, so my heat will make sure to bring your lack of heat up to match it, not the other way around."

Lifting his nose up humorously, he finished, "So there."

Mipha couldn't help but grin feverishly at his impression of Revali as his body heat began to swirl around her, causing her scales to liven up in cacophonous elation, much as they would during a sun bath. It was a pleasurably relaxing sensation, like receiving a gentle scratch to the back of the scale, though Mipha was so enamored with Link's proximity that she was more embarrassed than relaxed, despite their teasing words.

Both of them coming to terms with their rather presumptuous predicament, they quickly fell into silence as they allowed the cold, billowing air to accompany them with all the noise that was necessary. There was some contentedness, certainly, between them being so close, though Mipha's mind quickly began to whirl as Link's heat forced her body to churn to life.

"I was, uh-" she began quietly, drawing Link's attention as her free arm silently wrapped around his own, "When the Sword wouldn't allow my to grab it… I wasn't jealous or anything, just- I was scared."

Link watched her quietly, subtly pulling their arms against his side to better warm her extremity. Her voice petered out reluctantly, as if she wanted to go on and explain herself to this man, but- Something was still keeping her from doing so. Eventually, she managed once again.

"I'm not-" she started with an aching tone, "I'm not perfect. Nobody is, I know, but- Things have happened that-"

Link's brow turned with sadness at just how difficult this was for her, though she went on, "I was scared that- my life has been taken in directions that will forever make me unworthy. make me un- unable to-"

Her head dropped like an anchor toward her chest as her shoulders quivered, signaling her immediate descent into anguish. Link cautiously leaned over and released the blanket to wrap an arm around her head, pulling her ever-tighter into his chest as he dropped his face against her scalp for any chance at comforting her.

The shakiness in her voice, its tenuously aching timbre, compelled Link to remain silent, not daring to ask anything more of her in explanation for fear of hearing such a daunting tone again. Perhaps, instead, he hadn't the heart to do so. For all his prowess in battle, he hadn't a clue how to fight these sorts of battles. He hadn't the confidence, he knew, to help Mipha fight whatever demons were plaguing her mind.

or perhaps, still, Link was simply afraid. Afraid of what there might be to be found out about this woman who never allowed much of anything to bruise her body, yet didn't seem capable of doing the same for her heart.

All he could do was hold her tightly and mutter something in the way of prayer as she grew quieter in his arms, her shivering gradually calming as his body offered all the warmth he could hope to muster, which he already knew so relaxed her. He nearly jumped as her other hand left the blanket to grab hold of his arm, gently attempting to pull it away.

"Sorry," she explained with a tremored whisper, "You shouldn't have to care for a princess such as me so much."

Link failed to relinquish his hold on her, "Perhaps, but that doesn't mean it's not what I ought to do. You're incredibly strong if you're allowing yourself this much in front of somebody else."

A burst of movement jolted from Mipha as she gave a quick, anguished laugh, "You're still trying to cheer me up."

"Of course," Link offered, "You've already said that you're bound to me. I'm bound to you all the same; holding you is only natural."

He couldn't see her smile, but felt it somehow, through the air, in his heart- just somehow. He smiled sincerely as Mipha began to recover, finding his next chance to better help her recover.

"Okay, you dropped the quilt; now you are an ice cube," he joked, earning him a playful swipe from Mipha as she smiled up at him with swollen eyes, "Look at you."

He carefully reached a hand up to her face, gently pressing the back of his hand against the bottom of her eye to better relieve her of its unsightly appearance after her crying. It was such a fierce warmth upon Mipha's face, forcing her eyes to shut in contented relaxation as she grabbed a hold of Link's wrist to keep her bound to the world of the awoken.

"Look at _us_," Link noted sadly, grinning weakly, "We're just two lost kids making our way in this world."

Mipha's grip tightened.

"You know what you must do," she spoke up, "You have your destiny now. The Master Sword has-"

"I'm lost without you," Link spoke up with weighted breath.

Mipha's eyes opened slowly, her brilliance-colored eyes quivering behind beneath her wonderfully crimson crest as they peered into Link's own uncertain pair, his voice emerging once again, "Hyrule isn't worth you."

"You fool," Mipha replied with a teasing smile, belied by her newly whetted eyes, "I'm just as much a part of Hyrule as anything else."

Link's face lowered in serious resolve, his eyes remaining fixed upon the only opposite pair he'd ever cared to look into, "Hyrule doesn't get me like you do. Goddess knows it isn't nearly as beautiful."

Mipha was unable to withhold a soft chuckle.

"If I carry this thing- What becomes of that destiny which allows me to wake up every morning to see your sleeping face?" Link asked in compelling dreariness, "What about those best nights of my life with you?"

Her hands shaking under the gravity of his words, Mipha reached over to place her certainly-frigid hand against Link's own cheek in emulation, making sure to bring her thumb up to wipe away the tear that had emerged there.

"I don't know," was all she could muster, even if she tried desperately to make it sound far more meaningful that it truly was.

Link nodded, "That's what scares _me_."

Mipha lowered her head thoughtfully as her hand fell away from her face, again matching Link's own motion as he reached down to grab hold of the blanket to return around her shoulders, "You shouldn't go without-"

Her hands gripping the cragged spot where they sat, Mipha pushed herself to her feet, allowing Link's eyes to watch her with uncertainty as she took a step closer toward him, only a brief moment keeping the two of them parted before she carefully sat atop his leg, swiveling herself to the side so that she was seated atop him, wrapping her arms around his neck as she buried her head against his.

"Cover us," she ordered, much to Link's lingering shock of her sudden audacity.

He did as she said, the blanket fitting perfectly now that the two were taking up much the same space, though it did little to relieve much of the stress now forced upon Link as he attempted to figure out what exactly had occurred. Sure enough, after a few minutes, Mipha's icy skin had become about as warm as Link's own body heat, forcing her to grapple onto Link's head as she would when keeping steady upon a Lanayru stone in the sun.

"Uh, Mipha-" Link began, though his words were cut off by Mipha gently stroking her face against his scalp, allowing his soft hair to brush against her.

She mused quietly, "All of this heat is your own."

Link thought for a moment how intimate such a thing was, though just how indelibly innocent it was brought a soft smile to him at the idea. As a child himself, such warmth was a necessity, but for the Zora, it wasn't. He wondered how he might have been altered, had he been more akin to Revali, who'd been left without such things, yet required it.

Then he thought about how, his entire life, he'd been without Mipha. yet he must have required her.

"Here, you can't go to sleep before we get back to camp," Link mentioned as he shook his entire body to keep Mipha from dozing off atop of him.

"Noooo," she fought back with weakened words.

Link assured her, "Come on, I thought of a game we could play. It'll save us from taking this dour atmosphere back with us."

Taking a moment to consider it, Mipha muttered gracelessly, "Game… Like when we were kids…"

"Pretty much," Link chuckled, "I did say we were just two lost kids, so-…"

Mipha regretfully pulled her head away, leaving her simply sidelong atop Link's lap as his hands tried to find her own beneath the quilt, "This will actually help. You been studying your Hylian?"

Another meandering smile that was rather unbecoming of a princess followed Mipha as she answered, "Of course."

"Well, here," he spoke up as he found her hand, bringing it into his own pair, "I'll trace a character and you try to guess it only by touch. Alright?"

She nodded without tact, allowing Link to draw out a character in her palm before Mipha muttered lazily, "That's 'n… ayyyyy"

Suddenly trapped between a rousing need to laugh and a desperate attempt to keep Mipha in comfort, Link attempting to stifling much of anything by clenching his lips as tight as he could, allowing only a faint chuckling to cause this princess only the slightest discomfort.

"Correct, sort of," Link answered, "How much have you learned?"

Mipha quietly replied in earnest, "Lots…"

Smirking, Link offered a bigger challenge, tracing along a series of words atop her palm this time, turning toward her with a wry sort of tone, "How about n-"

His attention was met with Mipha's sleeping face atop his shoulder. Her eyes closed in weak tension, signaling her trust in him, while her lips just barely broke apart in time with quiet breaths. As though it were natural, her arms remained just at reassuringly tight around Link's neck, though it failed to be a bother. If anything, he much enjoyed it; that feeling of Mipha depending on him as though he were an unmoving stone atop the sunny peaks of Lanayru.

He thought of the letters he'd left her to sleep with, cautiously allowing a gentle kiss to press into her crest, speaking to her in soft assurance, "Don't worry. I'll never stop proving to you what it was it wrote. You'll figure it out soon enough."


	23. Cult of the Niq

Dawn broke upon the dewy plains of the Lanayru Lowlands, its marshy landscape already broken apart by Hylians trudging out to work their fields, unaware of the rag-tag assortment of Champions preparing for the day's trekking just above the extent of their fields. To be fair, given the night before, most of the Champions weren't exactly aware of the Hylians either; other than Mipha, the rest of the collection were either tired from lack of sleep, or were Revali, whose plumage allowed him a rather restful, deepening sleep at the sensation of being bundled up in the cold. Still lost in his own sleep, Zelda was forced to push herself up to her feet, refusing to go to sleep until Mipha's return was assured, and begin the process of traveling anew.

"Mmmmrgh," chortled Urbosa in a lazy complaint, turning away from Zelda's prodding touch, "Five more minutes…"

Zelda frowned, "You said that-"

A yawn escaped even her.

"-twenty minutes ago…"

Urbosa ignored her plight, leaving Zelda to make her rounds, attempting to rally whomever she could, though only Mipha arose, her restful night having been as assured as her return, thanks to a certain knight. Nevertheless, Zelda unleashed a bedraggled growl if a yawn as she began packing up her belongings, leading to a concerned glance from Mipha, who'd begun much the same.

"Are you sure you don't need some more rest?" she asked plainly.

Zelda assured with an unconvincing twinge of exhaustion in her voice, "No, no. I'm the leader of this troupe- I shouldn't be allowing sleepiness to overcome me anyway."

Unable to withhold a slight giggle at the sight of Zelda swaying back and forth in imbalance as she rolled up her sleeping pack, Mipha muttered quietly as she began assembling her own pack, "Thank you."

"Hmmgrr, for what?" grumbled the tired Zelda in reply.

"Staying up until Link and I returned. I know it was to your detriment this morning, but- it meant a lot," Mipha explained, "I wasn't always one to be waited on growing up, so-"

Zelda eyed her wearily, "Hey, we're Champions. We stick together."

She turned to the others, all currently succumbing to the wiles of slumber, continuing with unease, "…even if it doesn't always seem that way."

Mipha grinned once again, returning her attention to her own equipment as the two fell to silence, varying degrees of energy guiding g them to completion as the others eventually began to arise, an assortment of disgruntled groans emerging as if the morning were an encumbrance better left ignored.

"Five more minutes…" Urbosa complained yet again, awoken by Daruk's rocky pads of hands pushing him to his feet before tearing into the air with a yawn.

"Okay," Zelda suddenly pointed out, "I'm still not in the least bit interested in dissecting Daruk or anything, but isn't anybody else the least bit interested in why Gorons need to yawn?"

Slipping on his boots, Link smirked, "Sounds like a dissecting issue to me."

A boisterous laughter left Daruk as he answered, "I wish there had been work already done to give to you, like biology books or something, but we Gorons don't exactly think in those terms. We think more outwardly, I suppose; we're known for our fantastic rock sirloin, not exactly our introspection."

His face turned in disgust, "Plus, studying our dead? That's a bit creepy."

"I mean, yes, I suppose," Zelda replied, taken aback by how legitimate his observation might have been, "But all the knowledge you might gain by doing so! You could combat diseases, or better know how to help your bodies with-"

Her eyes shrunk in realization, "You don't have diseases, do you?"

"Not unless you count fits of laughter," Daruk answered, almost teasingly, "That might be an epidemic if it does! Bwah ha!"

Zelda eyed Link, who merely grinned in reply, "I believe this is a battle you're never going to win."

Visibly shaken by the prospect of forever untapped knowledge, Zelda curled her lips with discontent while her fingers ran along her closed eyes to better help their weighted exhaustion, leaving Daruk to merrily continue with his preparing for the day, gently pressing a foot against Urbosa's side to bring her back to the waking world.

"Hrmmgll," she answered suspiciously, "Five more minutes…"

Daruk frowned, leaving Mipha to chide quietly, "Speaking of battles one cannot win."

"Enough of this nonsense," Revali suddenly spoke up as he crawled out from his own sleeping bag, remaining on all-fours as he shook bountifully, allowing his plumage to flutter about as though in exhale before rising to his feet, clearing his throat to add some decorum, "Allow me to demonstrate the goddess Vurla's awakening lullaby, sung to our fledglings as they begin their days. Such rambunctious vocals to bring one's soul alight! It's said that, when the wind carries just right, such screechings can be heard across the whole of Hyrule!"

Fighting back tire, Urbosa managed to begin meandering upright, at least finding herself seated as she rubbed her eyes, grumbling lowly to herself, "Please, don't…"

Revali frowned with disappointment, crossing his arms, "Such a shame! Do not worry; perhaps I shall indulge you all at a later time. You know, it is a great honor to hear such a thing at all, much less from a warrior such as myself."

"O-Oh, absolutely!" Zelda replied with worry, "Please, if it isn't too much trouble, we'd all love to hear it, if you'd be so kind."

Link and Urbosa both shot silent glances toward the young Princess, causing Zelda to raise her shoulders in quiet inquiry, their behavioral gone unnoticed as Revali proudly raised his head, "No, no, I shan't be a nuisance by offering such a song beyond the time for awakening! Though, I do suppose a scholar would have need of such things outside of the proper times. Very well, I will recite-!"

"Hey, Mipha!" Urbosa blurted aloud, "I'm going to go gather some water; would you be kind enough to accompany me?"

Mipha's brow curled, "Actually, I was rather intrigued by-"

"Trust me," interrupted Urbosa, wrapping an arm around the Zora's shoulders and pulling her into her side as the two pressed on, "With your sonar hearing, it might churn your brains into jelly. I'm a _Gerudo_ and I fear for myself in kind."

Giggling at her intense desperation to escape, Mipha acquiesced, the two's departure leaving Revali with a glib expression, though it failed to stop him from progressing, "Very well, I will begin by offering the ceremonial warming of the palatoglossal arch. Let me just- _Hwawk_! _Hwawk_!"

Throwing his body forward, Revali's throat began creating a gurgled, choking symphony of vibrato swirled alongside magnificent crescendos of what seemed to be phlegm, forcing the others' faces to churn in shaken terror. Zelda did her best to maintain her air of willingness, though found it increasingly difficult amidst this odd ritual of the Rito.

"_Goddess_," Link muttered achingly, covering his ears, "They're birds, so why does he sound like a cat being strangled?"

Zelda released an immediate frown, "You know, you don't have to react with disgust at every little-"

Her spine trembled at a particularly sour note that shot from Revali's cadence like a firecracker, "-_every_ _little_ _thing_. He could very well have a rather melodic voice once he's warmed up- you have no idea. I'm sure there's plenty more about him that-"

"Oh, don't worry, there's less," Link confirmed with a pithy attitude.

Crossing her arms, Zelda questioned, "How exactly did you two start off in such bad terms, anyway?"

Link turned to her as he spoke up, "Well, you might not have realized it, but…"

He comically drew his shoulders forward, turning his head side to side as if in detection of wandering eyes, before finishing, "He's kind of a jerk. Shh! Shh! He'd rather it remain a secret!"

Despite Daruk's glee, Zelda merely rolled her eyes in reply, shaking her head, "You know what I meant; when you two first _met_."

Link shrugged, "We were on assignment out west. The party of Rito we were dealing with were cordial enough until Revali showed up, insisting he was a member of theirs, and causing a hubbub over the whole meeting. There's little worse than being the cause of a ruckus that impedes a routine procedure; that, and being a massive headache. Needless to say, the party of Rito weren't exactly pleased; they were far too quick when it came to apologizing- and let me tell you one thing, the Rito _never_ apologize to anybody beyond their race."

"Like I said before, he should know his place," Link surmised.

Zelda's brow furrowed, "You once knew _your_ place. Now look at you."

Link felt the Master Sword almost tug against his shoulder.

"Perhaps his standing isn't nearly so concrete," Zelda countered easily, a sudden gusts of spittle preventing Link from reporting in kind, the three spinning toward Revali as he completed his hacking into space.

"HWAH! Hmm mmm. Alright, that ought to do it. A good trachea exercise is good for the soul- never hurt anyone. Are you all prepared?" asked Revali rhetorically, already patting the plumage at his chest with his hands.

"Bring it!" Daruk challenged with a fierce grin, caught between wanting to be genuinely impressed and wanting to be entertained.

"Allow me to present to one and all- the songs of Vurla!" Revali proclaimed with enough pomp and circumstance to lift his words skyward, carrying his bravado, "Ahem! A one… A two… A-"

"'DERE HE IS!" came a shrill, unraveled shout from behind him, forcing Revali to whip around to find three Hylian children in a mad dash down the dirt road, right toward him, "Gedd'im!"

Trapped by the sudden shock of such a rabid occurrence, Revali merely recoiled, though did little else, as the three children surrounded him, weakly slamming the smallest of sticks against Revali's hocks as the Rito began scurrying in place to evade their nagging swats.

"What are-?! You cretins! You beings of deplorable acts!" Revali charged in a slight panic, "Have you _any_ clue who I-?!"

"Ged th' bird man!" one of them cried aloud, leaving Revali speechless in his astonishment.

"B-Bird man?! You vapid little whelps! Let loose those ill-constructed weapons this instant!" Revali demanded angrily, still attempting to shoo away the children.

From their spots a mere few paces away, the others looked on with a wide array of glances, Daruk, for one, finding the amusement he had been half-pining for, laughing boisterously at the sight of such articulate speech in the face of rampant children. Link smirked at the sight as well, leaning closer toward Zelda as her mouth fell agape in a mix of confusion as well as fright.

"See? There's less," Link chuckled under his breath as his eyes remained fixed on Revali's in-place dancing as he attempted to escape the children's clutches, his better instincts preventing him from doing much in the way of harm to the fledgling Hylians.

Zelda dropped her head, incapable of coming up with a solution within the heat of the moment, though Revali's anger quickly tempered, forcing her attention once again as Revali slammed a foot into the ground with an outrageous squawk that accompanied his plumage bursting forth while he lowered his stance, forcing his body to appear as though little more than a ball of angrily postured feathers. Less the presentation itself and more the suddenness of his motion, the children suddenly jerked away in terror, dropping their sticks and screaming as they charged toward the others, rounding Link's legs and clutching onto the hem of his tunic as they shielded themselves.

"GAAH!" one of them cried, "S-Save us!"

Link shrugged as he turned to Zelda, who immediately answered with a swift, "No! Now, we're going to handle this with- Revali, are you okay?"

His fully orbed posture notwithstanding, Revali's glare remained steadfast on the children, leaving Zelda to instinctively position herself between the Rito and the children before crouching down with a smile to offer a hand in greeting, "Hello there. Where are you all from?"

Still frightened, only one of them managed to motion down the slopes toward the lowlands, Link turning to find the slight numbers of workers out tilling. Perhaps these were children of the workers who'd gotten carried away, he figured. Still, Zelda nodded dutifully, taking back her hand once it was clear she wouldn't receive a handshake.

"It's okay; Revali wouldn't hurt a fly," she assured softly, hoping to avoid any comment to the contrary from the Rito himself, "Trust me."

"B-But!" one of the children stammered to life, "The bird men! They done came and picked off're people in'a night!"

"Yeah!" chimed another, "We have to protect're families!"

Zelda sighed, dropping her head in defeat, "Now, you kids know those are all false legends, right?"

"No way! Tobin's brother told us himself!" came from the third, "They prowl along the mountaintops, skittering along the sands, their wings whipping up dust as they-!"

"_Tich_!" Revali scoffed aloud as he stood up straight, straightening out his mantle, "As if a Rito would allow such a hideously inane act as 'whipping up dust'. I swear- think of the- I mean, you all witnessed it enough in the desert!"

The first child finished, "And- And- Their wattles bellow in the breeze!"

"I _BEG_ your pardon?!" Revali charged, forcing the children to recoil against Link's legs once again with terrified vocalizations.

Zelda groaned defeatedly as she stood, though her determination was true; she turned toward Revali and implored, "Revali, would you- Please- Just offer something of a friendly gesture?"

He only eyed her with suspicion.

"Look, half of why we're doing this is to better improve relationships between all of our people, correct? To do that, we'll have to challenge these sorts of things, right?" Zelda explained, coming to a head with an excited voice, "Oh! How about you do your aerial acrobatics! When we first met, I was so impressed; I'm sure these kids would be so excited to-"

"Niq!" Niq!" Neeeeq!" cried the children in a chorus of excited tones, the trio bursting away from Link's body and stampeding in the direction of the returning Urbosa and Mipha.

Zelda groaned, "Okay, well never mind…"

Smirking devilishly as though to tease, Urbosa boasted, "Neek? Now what are you calling me? I oughta-!"

Despite her excitement, the three kids blew right past Urbosa, much to her displease, and she followed them with her eyes as they clustered around Mipha, hopping up and down excitedly as they fell under the Zora's welcoming smile. Urbosa crossed her arms with malcontent, turning toward Zelda as the Princess came up to her side.

"Talk about _rude_!" Urbosa complained, "Don't they know I'm the fun one?"

Zelda frowned, "Tell me about it."

The children's incessant throes of elation continued as Mipha knelt down to come to their level, their cheering finally coming through, "Candy! Oh, please! Pleeease!"

Mipha smiled so serenely, wholly incapable at this point of doing much of anything to disappoint this youthful audience, "I do apologize, but I don't actually have any candy with me. I do, however…"

She turned her attention to the satchel at her back, rummaging through it while the kid's eyes gleamed excitedly. Even more, the remaining Champions grew further curious, not only at the name used to address the Zoran princess, but by her apparent playing along as well.

"Here," Mipha spoke up gently as she pulled three stones from her pack, earning her the reaction one might expect from children.

"…rocks?" one of them wondered with pithy incredulity.

Mipha smiled, "Yes, but- If you cup them between both your hands-"

She demonstrated herself, the kid's dismissal gradually returning to intrigue, "These stones are from little tiny tidepools at the top of Lanayru Mountains. Now, if you do this, close your eyes, and _reeeally_ concentrate, you can almost catch a picture of the mountains themselves."

Link shut his eyes, lowering his head to avoid showing a grin, thinking of a similar exercise promised by Mipha the night they'd met underneath the stars at the Bazaar. Even he had been warily trusting then, so when it came to children-

"Really?!" one of them shouted with elation.

Mipha nodded, "Yes, really! You just really, _really_ have to concentrate, alright?"

Immediately pawing for a stone, the three of them started off with a mad dash in the direction they'd initially come from, leaving Mipha with a whimsical smile as she rose to her feet, watching them as they passed Revali without incident, the Rito shooing them off with a blustery motion of his arm, shaking his head with disgust. She quickly stopped upon realizing her place atop the group's collective center of attention, her head jolting down toward her chest as embarrassment overtook her in a split second.

"Okay," Urbosa chimed in first, making a hand gesture suggesting Mipha approach her, "Spill it, Zora."

Mipha trembled beneath the weight of bashfulness, "Well, uh, I used to tell the same thing to my brother when he was a little taddie."

"Not that," Urbosa clarified swiftly, "That thing they called you- Neep."

Rather quickly, Mipha returned her head upright with attentiveness, "Oh! Actually, it's Niq- Like 'unique', just…not."

Her head tilted to the side thoughtfully, "I suppose now that I think about it, they _would _largely be around this region, so no wonder those children thought- Anyway, the Zora have always been a rather spiritual people, but we don't have a single religion or anything; especially since we've started exposing ourselves to the outside world, a few cults have sprung up, with the Niq being one of them, and I mean, there are tales of Zora worshipping giant fish throughout history, so they're not exactly the farthest cult 'out there'."

Going on, Mipha explained, "They believe in a crimson-scaled deity that will one day arrive and bring about a new age of prosperity amongst the Zora, and the vague nature of that idea has made them rather popular, even if personal cults are still on the fringe. Warbass types believe they will come and conquer the whole of Hyrule, while the more peaceful members take it that he'll simply come and usher in an era of knowledge and technological mastery."

"In any case, they're also rather open-natured," Mipha noted, pointing off toward the Hylian farmland down the rocky slopes, "They're more than happy to walk the world and make friends. They're known for being supremely friendly, so I suppose those children had come across a Niq and simply associated such kindness with all Zora, but- My father has always been wary of spiritual awakenings and such, but the Niq are generally friendly and offer us Zora a good reputation across these lands, so far as we know, so he hasn't much issue with their goings on."

Zelda's studious glance had already fallen in thought, a hand lazily scratching at her cheek in contemplation, "Hold on, you said crimson-scaled deity?"

"I caught that as well," Urbosa muttered, "Isn't that just the mark of Zoran royalty?"

Mipha sighed, "Well, that's why the Niq have remained more counter-culture than anything. A lot of people don't buy into it due to that fact; it could just be a king-worship cult, after all; the entire royal line, as you see upon my own body, bear scales of crimson. But they're adamant, never failing to prescribe to the idea of an arriving god-like being wearing scales of scarlet. They also have the image as those who employ the more…seedy of followers. Most of them are scared, bedraggled, often downright frightening, despite their good works. One of the more well-known members is named Nerim; he's rather unforgettable, as his dorsal fin was ripped from his head, which is generally regarded as heroic if resulting from battle, but we know too little about him for it to be anything more than a target of ridicule, sadly. Still, nearly begrudgingly, he remains helping other Zora, traveling about, helping the Hylians or the occasional Goron to find their way around this area. He's merely a rugged, kind soul, I think."

"Now that you mention it, I do recall Gorons who return from their travels and speak of such friendly Zora," Daruk nodded with a smile, "They made quite the impression; that's when our own tourism board was created! We thought your Zoran travelers were advertising Zora hospitality or something! Some enterprising Gorons figured to do the same!"

Zelda quizzically requested of the Zora, "Why are they so adamant about- I mean, I understand the religiosity of it, but- The crimson scales just seem weird so far as prophecy goes. If every generation of Zoran royalty Bears the same thing, can it truly even be a prophecy? Any one of them could be its answer, even you."

Shrugging, Mipha explained, "To be honest, I don't understand, or even know, the finer points of the Niq beliefs; just that they seem to be more of a positive group than negative. They aren't a nuisance, which is good enough for most of Zora's Domain."

"That's more than you can say about the Hylia cult," Revali sneered distastefully, "On the whole, anyway."

"Sadly, you're quite truthful when you say that," Zelda sighed, "Still, that's yet another thing I hope to address with our excursion. I understand my ancestors weren't always benevolent toward your people, but I'm hoping to help mend those histories as best I can."

Revali frowned, "You could start with _him_."

His eyes widening in surprise at being called out, Link gave a heavy shrug before reply, "What?!"

Zelda groaned, burying her race into her hand with exasperation, her eyes still war-weary with tire as she sighed aloud, "Gah, I'm too tired for this…"

Smiling from ear to ear, Daruk raised his arms, "I shall take a cue from those of good will that Mipha speaks of! Allow me to carry you, if you would so allow me the privilege!"

Shaking her head with sudden nervousness, Zelda waved her arms back and forth, "N-N-No, that's- that's fine! I can manage!"

"Fear not, should you require my help," Daruk assured proudly, "Ask Link! I had to carry him once due to heat exhaustion and, despite my brusque and rugged mantle, I ensured he was in the care of one ever so careful with his protection."

Zelda grinned at Daruk's description of himself, particularly the world 'mantle', before assuring him, "No, truly, I'm fine."

Daruk nodded in reply before Urbosa's skeevish expression caught his eye, her head cocked to the side in guarded inquiry , "…well? What happened next?"

The Goron watched her curiously, though Link caught Urbosa's intention, forcing him to intervene, "Don't give her an answer; she's just hunting for a fantasy."

Urbosa's glare cast down upon Link with intensity, "Why, what are you hiding..?"

As the bickering continued, leaving Zelda exhausted and Revali incredulous of the group he'd been found a part of, Mipha merely smiled, even as Urbosa began pantomiming activities with her hands which forced blushes amongst the Hylians while Daruk remained oblivious. She had long forgotten to listen to what was going on, besides the very general fact that she was traveling with this boisterous cluster of bodies that seemed so out of place together, yet seemed to match perfectly in their torrid makeup.

Surely, she reminisced of the night before, these were the best days.


	24. The Skittering of Broken Retreat

The Champions' bedraggled gait somehow made it to the dejure entryway into Zora's Domain: the Inogo Bridge, the final landmark crossed underneath by the Zora River before crashing into the tumultuous waters of the Rutala River. More importantly, it marked the first sight of Zoran architecture for any outsiders not privy to such magnificence. While luminous stones made their way toward a wider population, the ore being used in construction remained a peculiarity to most outside the Domain itself, and if one were to inquire further enough, they might learn that the Zoras themselves new little of the craft.

"We inherited much of the Domain," Mipha explained with a learned air, "So far long ago that our ancestors weren't able to keep any written records of who constructed these bridges, or the Domain itself. We know the Zora began by living atop the mountains before descending to the basin below, but other than that, much is unknown to us."

Daruk nodded attentively as he approached the large, crystalline structure at the bridge's fore, "This watchtower is truly magnificent!"

Smirking, Urbosa challenged amusedly, "Hold on, buddy; it's not a salt lick."

Forced to compose himself, Daruk cleared his throat, "I suppose you believe I'd make of meal of any rock that crosses my-"

He paused under the knowing sight of the others, resigning himself to simply examining the tower once more, "The luster, the masterwork that went into such smooth surfaces; it's wonderful!"

"That was our first hint that our ancestors couldn't have constructed these," Mipha confirmed easily, "Beyond that, we were borne by, and constricted to, the water; it would have been impossible for such things to have been made by us on land. Still, it's 'Zoran' by association, and just as well- it's become a part of us."

She smiled at the thought, the luminous object reminding her of home, "However it came to us…it's still our home."

"And that's all that matters, Zora," Urbosa triumphantly replied with a regal tone, crossing her arms in a motion of authority, "Well, before Daruk makes a snack of your home, shall we cross?"

"B'ey!" Daruk shouted through the finger in his mouth, having rubbed whatever he could from the ore's vibrant surface.

Revali frowned at the sight, dropping his head, "I can see us making ill impressions in the domain of this Gerudo- after all, she _is_ their leader. But I won't have you making a mockery of myself when it comes to these Zora. Despite their disadvantages, I admire their ability to take what they are offered and make the most of their seafaring nature; they don't merely remain idle, wishing to soar as we Rito do."

Taking the backhanded compliment in stride, having learned to do so, Mipha managed a quick reply to Urbosa's suggestion, "Actually, this is where we stop for the moment. Being the first bridge toward the Domain, and as presupposed by the two watchtowers, Inogo Bridge is under constant surveillance, even if we may not see our hosts."

In a blithering annoyance, Revali threw a wing toward Daruk, "See?! You've made a mockery even as we stand here!"

Daruk shrugged, "How so? Would it not be a compliment to tell them how tasty their structures are?"

Wholly unable to comprehend whether or not Daruk was serious, Revali returned his wings to his chest, crossing them only until realizing Urbosa's similar stance and dropping them to his side, lowering his head to groan in frustration.

"Where might they be?" Zelda wondered as she strolled toward the river's edge, examining the rolling waters below.

Mipha smiled rather pleasantly for her explanation, "They're probably checking to see if I've not simply been kidnapped and made to be a puppet or sorts."

"But-" Zelda stammered with quiet horror, "You're their princess!"

Giggling, Mipha nodded, "True. but even my life is not worth the security of our entire population. Particularly now that we've a formal heir in my brother; until he spawned, the story right now might be entirely different."

"But then," Link noted plainly, "You wouldn't be here at all were that not the case."

She smiled peacefully, thinking of the meaning behind his words, "That might very well be true…"

Urbosa's eyes constricted as she attempted to make out the pathway beyond the bridge, "Looks simple enough a trek now that I'm seeing it. Were we all Zora at the moment; I've seen your people's mastery over the most furious of currents!"

Hiding a scoff was Revali as Mipha smiled with innocent pride, "Well, some Zora train their entire lives to perform such things."

"What should happen after we're approached?" Zelda asked quizzically as she attempted to piece together the rest of the excursion until the Domain.

Mipha's head turned upriver, examining the currents with a pensive expression, "I suppose I leave you all to make your way up the river yourselves. We'll need passage upriver, and I dare not burden our wardens here. It'll be quicker for me to begin preparations for your arrival if I swim up alone."

"That's what we get for going along without a solid plan," Urbosa pointed out with a frown, "Still, I'm rather miffed by how tight the security seems to be around here. It's not as if we're stragglers, either; I mean, you've got the Princess of Hyrule right here."

She reached out a hand as if in presentation toward Zelda, though the young woman's puzzled, scrunched face belied any sort of austere beauty that Urbosa might have been demonstrating. Still, Urbosa returned her attention to Mipha as the Zora answered.

"W-Well, it's not so much you three, Urbosa, Daruk, and Revali. We're actually quite welcoming of Gorons and Rito especially. It, uh- You two…"

Sensing how difficult such a divisive topic was for her to explain, Link offered his own critique, "Some of the higher-up Zora despise Hylians. That simple."

Sighing, Zelda's shoulders fell, "I mean, I suppose it's warranted. I have no grounds to presume, yet I would have hoped after a few generations, the bloodshed might have been left behind in service of peace."

"It's not the war," Link explained, "I mean, according to your written histories it might be. But we were all fine when I was a child; we-"

"That's right!" Urbosa exclaimed with surprise, "You were a part of a Hylian troupe that came here every year or so!"

Nodding, Link went on, "And our two people seemed tense, but peaceful enough. One year, though, they simply refused us entry, leaving us with nothing but scorn in answer. To this day, I don't know what happened- If Mipha could enlight-"

He paused as he noticed her dour expression, feeling that same roiling within his gut that he felt the night before. He couldn't escape the faint idea that whatever might have happened, it had involved her somehow- after all, she was royalty, anyway. But perhaps there had been more- More than he was ever truly willing to think of.

The others must have sensed this as well, their replies having been muted much as Link had been, their somber faces showing in silent solidarity with

"Well?!" Revali suddenly charged, "Are you not going to explain, Zora?"

Urbosa groaned angrily, "Y'know, it's a good thing you lack the comprehension to fully understand what goes into being a birdbrain."

"I'm a bird, one with quite the specimen of a brain. What's the insult?" Revali inquired innocently enough, though with a gritting expression to match the Gerudo's.

Turning toward Zelda, Urbosa complained, "I can't even get an insult in edgewise! He- Daruk! Cut that out!"

The party turning to find Daruk attempting to scale the tower for some unknown-to-them reason, Mipha paused at the apex of her motion, smiling gently as the others' attention followed along with hers. With a tremendous enough grace to prevent any sound to spill over from the river's surface, a Zoran man, clad in battle armor, had suddenly appeared mid-way along the bridge, the stave in his hand plastered to the ground as the tension in his hand began to wear off in dry sanguinity, as if understanding these individuals posed no threat to him.

"My lady, Mipha," he immediately bowed his head before pounding a fist into his chest, "I apologize for my tardiness, but our orders-"

"-are understood even by me," Mipha interrupted gracefully, her bell-like voice offering little more than a premature, helpful end to the man's thought, "Hakes, it is good to see you manning this post on your own."

Slamming his fist once again against his breast, the Zora proudly declared, "Nothing could keep me from performing at my utmost, even in this youthful age. Hence my lack of imposition until just now."

He looked over the Champions with a dry expression, "Once it became clear that this band lacked the cohesion necessary to traverse this river, I knew they posed little threat to both you, as well as the Domain."

"Well, now, hold it," Urbosa challenged, raising a hand in disbelief, "Putting aside your obvious misconception of our- well, of _my_ combat prowess- We've all made stepping stones of greater environments; I don't think this river will be holding us b- Even Link here has crossed this path many times."

Miffed by her insinuation, Link eyed her critically as Hakes explained, "I don't doubt your ability, Gerudo. We've nevertheless been inundated by a nest of skultullas in one of the crevices along the way, which, my apologies, was what I was considering when I spoke out of turn."

His honorable reply causing a sense of regret to rise up within Urbosa for her accusation, she replied graciously enough, "Well, I mean, a bunch of skultullas isn't much for us, either. Daruk here can take down the largest of Gorons when he's not attempting to eat architecture, and I myself have greater ability than I might appear to possess."

An embarrassed expression crossed Daruk as Hakes gave the group a look over, as if ascertaining whether she had spoken the truth, leaving Mipha to explain coldly, "He probably doesn't know much about outsiders. He's come up in our new world of cloistered society, so-"

She turned to the warden, "I can assure you, Hakes; this group is more than capable of making it upriver on their own."

Hakes allowed his eyes to rest as he nodded, "As you say, Lady Mipha."

The Zoran princess turned to the Champions before letting a quick bow escape her in gentle reverence, "I do hope you don't mind my departure."

"Oh, not at all," Zelda assured quickly enough, "It will give us a chance to traverse this river without guidance. I can't think of much that would be as fun, right everyone?"

Any sort of reply fell silent as Zelda turned to the others, uncertainty clouding the group. Even if for a brief amount of time, the loss of Mipha took from them a certain calm even if she might not have exuded as much. Her silence often said more than if she were to speak, and given the tendency toward bouts of outbursts that the others brought to the group, it only became more apparent.

Still, Mipha did her best to smile at the silent gesture, recognizing the others' quiet respect toward her absence, allowing a quick, "Do your best not to be too much trouble, alright?"

"On my honor," Daruk declared plainly, eliciting a droll rolling of Urbosa's eyes.

Another smile from Mipha fell a bit soft as her eyes met Link's, the knight nodding to her his own assurance of the group's safety, allowing a warm sense of trust to swell up within her cold-blooded chest as she turned to leave, diving rather gracefully, trident and all, into the river, leaving the remaining Champions in Hakes' company.

"Well, Hakes, we will-" Zelda began, turning silent as she turned to find Hawkes having disappeared.

Revali sputtered, "Quite the unceremonious goodbye. The more respectable Rito goodbyes last an hour or two!"

"It's a good thing we're _not_ all Rito, then, if we're attempting to beat the sunset," Ursoba sighed, "Link, I suppose since you've been here before, if Zelda would allow you to lead us?"

Quickly enough, Zelda agreed, "Just my thoughts! How long should it take us?"

"If we hurry, a few hours at the most, assuming we don't run into those skultullas Hakes mentioned," Link shrugged, "I'm sure we could make short work of them, but the excavations down in Necluda have disturbed the more hard-set of them enough to force their migration up north. I've been on assignment down there before to protect the excavators, and you can get a pretty sour skultulla every now and then."

"Then give Daruk and myself the first blows!" Urbosa proclaimed with a ferocious smirk, slamming a fist into her palm, "Right, Daruk?"

Daruk grew nervous at his sudden addition to her boasts, "R-Right!"

He quickly bent toward Link, "They're, uh, not… You know…"

Link assured him with a smirk, "They're not too scary, Brother; they're ugly little things- you shouldn't have any qualms about combatting them."

"Pshaw," Revali scoffed, "Unless you count the ones that jump, latching onto their targets before injecting the most potent on venoms right-"

"Gah!" Daruk wailed in trembling form, though the group's attentions turned to Revali instead.

Urbosa's eyes widened in surprise, "Did Revali just make a teasing joke? I'm impressed."

All Link could do was pat Daruk's arm before heading off along the winding path upstream, "Don't listen to him. The only thing we have to fear is not making it by nightfall and becoming tardy guests. C'mon, guys."

The group collectively began to follow behind Link, with Zelda remaining behind as Revali stood in place with a pondering expression, the Hylian making sure he was prepared to press on as well, offering gently, "Revali? Are you okay?"

"What did she imply by insinuating that I was making a joke?" he wondered aloud, "I was merely giving advice! Are they not aware of the jumping skultullas within the depths of Gisa?"

Zelda groaned silently as she surrendered her upturned shoulders, carrying along in defeat that Revali could not even accept a falsified expression of camaraderie, her gait leaving the Rito the last to depart as he continued running Urbosa's words in his head, obliviously unaware of what had transpired.

* * *

The Company cautiously pressed on through the Tabahl Pass, though any reservations toward security had routinely been abated as Daruk, Urbosa, and Zelda all continued to express their wonderment of the natural wonder surrounding them. Zelda especially, these lands having once been unavailable for her to pass, though even Daruk and Urbosa hadn't ever crossed these lands themselves, leaving an air of awe to permeate the air, even if it did little for Revali, whose wonderment, were he to have such a thing, remained concealed behind his studious glances.

For Link, who hadn't visited this place since his early teens, it was a rather nostalgic trip, his glances upon certain landmarks beginning in foreign recognition before suddenly bursting into recollection, a sensation he wasn't too familiar with, to be sure. Even so, he held a certain pride in his knowledge of the river, particularly whenever the others had excitable questions, namely Zelda, who had already constructed plans to not only camp out here for a month for research, but also so hunt down the local fauna "for research purposes" before releasing them back into the wild, no doubt with a renewed distrust of the greater beings who roamed Hyrule.

"Urbosa would come along, too!" Zelda volunteered for her good friend, earning her a skeptical look from the Gerudo.

"I beg your pardon?" questioned Urbosa.

Zelda was quick to explain, "I mean, doesn't it feel as though these roaring rapids are calling your name?"

"For a bath, perhaps; I wouldn't exactly be able to make a pleasure trip up this way. I can only hand off my power for so long to my handmaid before my women become restless," Urbosa explained plainly.

Now frowning, Zelda turned toward Link, "Okay, well Link, you could-"

"My being your bodyguard is not predicated upon vacations," Link challenged, "Especially now, your father must have better things in mind for me upon our return from this quest."

To Daruk, she began, "Daru-"

"Bwah ha! I would love to join you on such an excursion!"

"Really?!" Zelda cried in excitement.

Daruk nodded, "Absolutely! Although, to stay in such terrain for so long, I'd need to figure out a way to keep my skin free from moisture. We Gorons don't take well to water, you see; I mean, we can bear it, buy it certainly isn't comfortable, that feeling of skin being torn from your body."

His face turned quizzically, "You know, now that I think about it…"

Zelda groaned in wrestled frustration, dripping her head as her attentions turned toward those of her acquaintances back home, of whom she had few. So encased behind library walls, she hadn't much time for friends to begin with, and the few she'd had were in the service of her father, and not exactly able to make such trips, particularly when the thought of jealous associates amongst the castle wondering why they hadn't been tasked with such an enjoyable assignment.

"Well?" Revali spoke up, irritated by Zelda's lack of attention in asking him, "You're not going to ask me?"

She spun toward him with a furious speed, "Really?! Revali, you'd-?!"

"No," he returned with a grimace, "Water makes a drudgery of our wings. I wouldn't be caught dead upon these waters."

Zelda nearly collapsed from the sudden throes of sadness thrust upon her, though Urbosa was quick to take her shoulders around her arm, "There, there, we'll figure out something. Get you back out here with a tent, some books, where you can enjoy the peace, the serenity-"

"My archaeology kit," Zelda murmured in time, causing Urbosa's attention to waver in confusion, "Just look at the cliffs surrounding us! So much storied strata to be examined and no time to explore it!"

The Gerudo somewhat disappointed in her inability, now, to pinpoint exactly this young woman's desires, dropped her shoulders while Daruk questioned with a boisterous air, "Ah! A fellow admirer of history written upon the very earth surrounding us! For all the books you might have in your libraries, these rocks tell tales from even before your earliest texts."

"And you can probably translate them into taste, as well," Revali noted glibly, though the idea seemed to pique Daruk's interest more than his frustration.

Zelda replied, still, to Daruk, "I know! It was quite funny; I remember the one time my father took me along to one of the dig sites back when the Divine Mechanisms were first taking shape upon those cliff faces. Everybody was so fixated on those machinations and all I wanted to do was collect what I could of the ancient dust being unlocked from the rocks. One soldier had to hold me back, so I fell and managed to swing a handful of dust away from beneath his grasp."

"Always the stubborn one," Urbosa sighed with a mixture of melancholy and nostalgia.

Zelda held her head high, "And I'll have you know, Revali, before you say anything- I was not _playing_ in the dirt, I was merely doing research. A far more studious exercise, you might agree."

A half-shrug answered her, "I grant you enough; while it may stain our precious plumage, even we Rito have relinquished ourselves to the earth from time to time. Though, I would expect such things not to be left to a Princess."

Grinning rather reservedly, Zelda admitted, "Well, to be sure, I haven't always been the 'princess' type, if that hasn't already been made obvious by now."

"_Not the princess type_," Urbosa repeated with a sarcastic timbre, rolling her eyes with a smirk, "This is the same girl who would plot out elaborate plans involving scaling the castle walls to reach the desserts in the kitchen, and then wail like a child and demand to be coddled _like a princess_ when she would get caught with one foot out her door."

Zelda's face went flush, "U-Urbosa!"

"She was so cute the one time I found her out," the Gerudo chuckled warmly, "Hadn't a single reservation about using that 'princessness' when it suited her. I figured I would teach her a quick lesson about what it means to be a queen."

The two women went silent with melancholic smiles, leaving Revali's feathers ruffled, "Well?! What does that mean? You cannot expose such a tale and then fail to expound until its conclusion!"

Urbosa chuckled, "I just escorted her to the dessert pantry and we had a few candies before I returned her to her room. Her father begrudged me for the rest of my stay, but such things happen. Still, her mother and I shared a laugh about it."

Slowly, pithily, Revali began smoothing the plumage at his chest, muttering to himself, "Had I known such an answer would be awaiting me…"

"Hold on," Link turned with an incredulous scowl, "On our first excursion, to the shrines, I tracked you down after you'd left and found you atop a plateau in the desert. Did you _climb_ that?"

A mixture of pride and shame forced Zelda's face to drop, "Well, actually, yes, I suppose."

"She was quite a climber, even growing up," noted Urbosa with a shrug, "She _really_ wanted those candies."

"I didn't-" Zelda refuted, though simply choosing to advance as she replied to Link, "It's not difficult. Especially when you have to be silent, you learn a few tricks; like when you push open a door, ever so slowly. It's only loud in relation to your own silence; you cough quietly, or sniffle, as you do it to steel your nerves and keep you from losing your will. It's nowhere near as loud as you believe."

She shrugged, "Climbing is just- Here, I'll show you!"

The group had since rounded the embankment that comprised the Bank of Wishes, crossing the bridge there to bring them upon the under-cliff of Ralis Pond when Zelda darted toward the nearby cliffside, much to Urbosa's chagrin and leaving Link to apologize.

"I mean, I didn't expect a demonstration," he chewed in resignation, though Zelda remained undeterred.

Urbosa turned her lips as she considered the young woman's happiness, simply smirking at the joy that seemed to overtake her, "Well, I suppose it's fine. She might not realize this, but after this venture, she won't be finding the time to return here either."

Reluctantly, Link allowed a scornful sort of expression of loss cross his face, recognizing much the same for himself. Mipha had remained at the forefront of his mind, yet, he knew all to well- for all his thoughts of a life alongside her, such things were not to come easy to either of them. For most of these Champions, this journey, however tremulous it might become, it would soon prove to be a final chance at something of a care-free existence, at least on the smallest of stages. Time, and perhaps destiny, was yet pulling them all toward other goals, Link knew, thinking of Mipha's fears of a destiny left unfulfilled by his absence.

"See?!" Zelda ejected excitedly as she dug her foot against the rocky cliff, "Watch me!"

Daruk was left as the only one with maximum interest, throwing a cheering fist into the air as he roared with equaling excitement. Quickly recognizing her own absence of attention, Urbosa smiled as she returned her attention to her surrogate daughter, approaching the stage of her performance as Link remained for a moment's respite before joining the others.

Explaining as she went, Zelda proudly began rising along the sheer face of the cliffside, lined in magnificent colors of strata being projected upon by shimmering reflection from the river waters behind them, "You might think to use the ball of your foot, but- The side of your foot has so much more surface area, it's easier- to-"

She began to slow as she arose a handful of feet upward, exhaustion catching her, leaving Urbosa to allow some supervision to come from herself, "Now don't get so far that you can't return to the ground easily."

"Don't worry," Zelda assured with all the confidence of a child, "There's a tiny crack in the wall up here; I'll just reach it and come back down, okay?"

Revali cracked suddenly, "You sounded enough like a mother there, Gerudo. I hadn't any expectations of such a thing."

Throwing a scornful expression toward the Rito, Urbosa eyed him with a fierce look, swapping her scowl to Link as he began to chuckle, "You know, now that he mentions it…"

"A maternal instinct is a great strength of living beings, I'll have you both know," Urbosa shrugged, allowing her resentment to leave her as quickly as it had risen, "I suppose _you_ wouldn't have an idea of what that's-"

She came to a sudden halt, shutting her eyes in regret, taking in a sharp breath as she recognized where her thoughts had begun to tread. Urbosa gave a heated sigh before turning toward Revali with a frown.

"Sorry," she offered.

Revali's eyes narrowed suspiciously, "Why? Because I hadn't a mother myself? Trust me; had I the advantages of the other Rito, I might not have tempered into the specimen among the lot of you today. The greatest gift I could have been given was my abandonment, if I'm being truthful."

Expecting such an answer, Urbosa's heart still hung with regret, knowing well enough that, even if such a thing bothered the Rito, he wouldn't ever dare admit to it. She couldn't help but feel a pang of guilt at the thought of what might be going through his mind.

"EEEK!" cried Zelda, shooting the entire Company's attention upward to find her with her body leaning as far as it could go away from the chasm within the cliffiside.

"Zelda!" Urbosa shouted out in concern.

A moment passed before Zelda began to giggle, closing back in onto the crack of stone facing with a soft explanation, "Sorry. It's okay, it's just a tiny skulltulla is all."

Sure enough, as she peered into the small cove, a tiny collection of bulbous eyes peered back at her from a few feet within the enclosure, the softened image of a skultulla hatchling just barely broke free from the darkness. She smiled at the sight, finding it rather cute, even as it raised its foremost legs in some cuddly attempt at protecting itself.

"_Just_ a tiny skultulla?!" Urbosa shouted, "Get down from there, child!"

Zelda smiled as she slowly began reaching into the cove, even amidst Urbosa's protests, "Did you know that the males were once killed and skinned for their golden carapaces? There was an ancient texts I came across, even, about a skultulla token so rare that it-"

In an instant, Urbosa's cautious glare turned fierce, leading Link to react much the same as he dropped his backpack from his shoulders, the Hylian muttering, "I caught it too."

"Caught what?" Daruk questioned, his terror increasing gradually at the first mention of a creepy-crawly that so easily could be stomped upon through little fault of his own.

Link gritted his teeth, hurrying toward the cliff, "She _never_ cuts off an explanation of an ancient text. Zelda!"

He dug his toes into a miniscule jut in the wall as he quickly began to scale the wall, only managing to slip and fall as Zelda had mentioned, forcing him to adjust his footing even while Zelda's eyes remained wide from the entrance of the chasm. She slowly retreated her hand at the sudden appearance of more collections of eyes, and even more, as if an entire nest of giant eyeballs had immediately taken root within the darkness.

"Well that's terrifying," Zelda surmised quietly to herself before quickly readying her feet and pushing off from the rock facing, leaping back toward the ground and into the waiting arms of Urbosa.

"Child!" Urbosa shouted as a sudden skittering broke the air, even as Link made his way back to the ground himself.

Zelda pleaded, "I didn't know!"

Groaning, Urbosa brought the Princess to her feet before slamming a fist into the palm of her hand as a cacophony of skultullas began pouring out from the cliffside. She eyed them down; even relatively tiny, their sheer numbers seemed to engulf the wall, no doubt a defense mechanism of some sort, though, in this case, such an act seemed to ready Daruk even more, the Goron clutching his hands into fists as he stepped back into the Company's sphere atop the riverbank.

"Well, I could think of worse roadblocks," Urbosa sighed.

Link cocked his head toward Revali as he slid his Knight's sword from its sheath, "Hey Rito, that bow gonna do you any good here?"

"You'd be aghast at what I can do with this," Revali assured, readying a splinter of an arrow to be drawn in an instant.

Chuckling, Link shook his head, "You shouldn't ever trust your life to something that doesn't remain in your own hands. The only thing stopping my sword is _me_, nothing else. What can you say about your arrows?"

"That they're loosed with the power to split your skull in two," Revali bit back, eliciting something of a rivalrous smirk from Link as the Champions formed up.

"WRAAAA!" Daruk shouted with a vigorous roar to attempt to frighten away the beasts, but to no avail, forcing him to ready his fists, "You were right, Brother, about them being ugly!"

Link nodded, "They've become more ferocious and more willing to conglomerate since they've been displaced. Watch your backs; they like to surround their prey and-"

"Prey? Ha!" Revali scoffed, "I laugh at the notion! Give me two seconds and you'll see that these vermin require only a miniscule amount of-"

His voice slowed to a halt as the Champions noticed the swarm of skulltulas begin to shallow around the chasm within the wall, leaving it wholly uncovered as if in awaiting a new challenger, Link's heart dropping at the realization of what was going to emerge. He gripped his sword tighter.

"Alright, that's not a nest; it's a hive."

"Hive?!" Zelda questioned, turning toward Urbosa, "Why did you let me get so close?!"

Urbosa's eyes blew open wide, "Me?! Why not aim that accusation back to that stubborn streak of yours!"

"Had I any idea-!"

A low, trembling rumble burst beneath their feet. The two women ceased their bickering just in time to notice the gigantic, shielded cranium of a humongous skultulla slowly emerge from within the crevice, throwing its head back and forth to force its way through the thick rock, causing a tumultuous series of tiny earthquakes as the cliffside rumbled.

"Alright," Link directed, "We're gonna have to be smart about this. Urbosa, you wait for your chance and go for the head."

"Right."

Link nodded, "Daruk, you-"

He turned to where the Goron had been, a queasy feeling coming over Link as he found nothing, "Daruk? Where did you-?!"

"That _rapscallion_!" Revali charged, causing Link and Urbosa's attention upriver to find Daruk making a mad dash, Zelda thrown over his shoulder, as he desperately tried to flee the impending battle.

Link wondered aloud, the incessant skittering of ugly toes gradually drowning out their voices, "Well?!"

Urbosa thought for a moment, "Well, the person we're supposed to protect is over _there_! What's _here_ to pledge our fealty to?!"

A knowing frown came across Link as he grabbed his backpack, "Hard to argue with that logic."

The two began to rush off after Daruk, leaving only Revali to complain in place, "You little miscreants! I was promised heroic battles, and at the slightest moment of such a thing-! GAH!"

Angrily recognizing his own disadvantage by himself, Revali readied himself as he gave chase after the others, the Company in shattered retreat as the ginormous skultulla fell from its perch and began giving chase, a swarm of younglings scurrying along after it if unable to latch onto one of its razor-sharp legs.

"They teach you this in knight school?!" Urbosa teased with a grin, even as the two of them were in full stride.

Link frowned, "Probably when you were learning how to be a queen by eating late night candy."

"I'll have you know that sugar is the cornerstone of _any_ rule," Urbosa explained, earning something of a half-hearted smirk from Link's gaping mouth, his lungs churning in overtime as the two approached the massive chasm above the river bridged by the might bridge, Luto's Crossing.

Link began, "Ruling over afternoon naps, perha-!"

A sudden burst of atmosphere burst past the two of them, knocking the both of them off-kilter as Revali flew across the bridge, zooming by with a furious speed. Link quickly returned to his balance as he made it to the Crossing, turning to find Urbosa slowing up as she joined him.

"C'mon; another mile or two and the Zoran guards will help-" Link paused, noticing the mischievous look upon Urbosa's face, "…what?"

The Gerudo offered a smug sort of smirk, "I mean, as long as Revali is using _his_ strengths as a Rito…"

With that, Urbosa leapt up toward the railing of Luto's Crossing and bounding into the air with a magnificent leap, her body nearly flying toward the adjoining cliffside before she began near-surfing down its sheer surface, leaping from rock face to rock face as her powerful limbs made mincemeat of the gigantic distances between the walls of Zora's River.

Link's shoulders fell in defeat as he turned back toward the approaching swarm, dropping his head as it shook with revulsion, panting aloud to himself, "Alright then…"

His breath only slightly returned to him, he began jogging across the bridge, quickening his pace as the sickly skittering behind him increased, the skultullas blackening the bridge itself as they overtook its architecture, the gigantic form of their brood-leader rushing across as it angrily continued its own chase. Link turned his head over his shoulder to note their distance, though his eyes caught the strap over his shoulder that carried the Master Sword, forcing a groan from him as he rolled his eyes.

"Any help here?!" he questioned of the weapon, "Can't fly me outta here, can you?!"

His complaints going unanswered, Link refused a glimpse of Zora's Domain as he crossed the mighty bridge, simply pressing on as he returned to the earthen pathway, now far more rough now that the terrain took a downward-sloping path. The form of the ground beneath him gave him quickness, though that was only a blessing for so long, as his heightened speed forced Link's quickened gait to come out from underneath him, slipping to the ground and sliding to a stop as he rolled along the soil.

Quickly taking note of his surroundings, Link noted the swarming skulltulas surrounding him as the broodmother approached, limiting his actions, though such a thing did little to faze him. Standing up, reaching around his waist, he yanked the Master Sword from its sheath and held it before him as the gigantic beast came ever closer, forcing a frown upon Link face as he complained.

"I always knew it'd go down like this," he sarcastically noted to himself with a shake of his head.

The massive skulltula lifted its pincers, ready to strike, causing Link's shoulders to square up in preparation to retaliate, when in a split second, an ornate spear flew past him, impaling itself in the ground before the broodmother, forcing the beast to recoil in uncertainty. Link spun around, finding nobody, before whipping his head back toward the skulltulla queen as a blood-curdling whine escaped its carapace.

A Zora, clad in armor, leapt from the cliff above the beast, landing atop its head and sending its external skull slamming into the dirt from the elegant force of the Zora's leap. Belligerently so, the skulltulla pulled its head up, but the force of doing so only served to aid the Zora, as he raised a mighty spear above his head, slamming it atop the beasts head, the counteracting motions of both only serving to heighten the explosive result.

The Zora leapt from the skulltula's carapace as the massive beast began to squirm in mighty motions, throwing itself around painfully, the spear remaining embedded within its skull as it thrashed from side to side. The swarming ranks broke as the lesser skulltulas desperately retreated atop the broodmother, covering up the wound, leaving Link in shock at such a sight, as if they were attempting first aid on the massive beast.

The Zora backed off toward Link, yanking the spear from the ground as he spoke openly, "The things are dangerous, you know."

"I'm quite aware," Link offered pithily, earning a smarmy grin from his rescuer, "I don't think we were ever stupid enough to jump onto one, though."

A bright laugh left the Zora as he readied himself, the skulltula's thrashing coming to a halt as it reoriented itself, charging toward the two with a chillingly shrill vocalization, but only halfway to Link and the Zora, a sudden burst of a body left the cliff above, descending upon the beast, spear drawn as he slammed its sharp edge into the broodmother's exoskeleton, a horrible cry breaking the air as the lesser skulltulas began to abandon the mighty beast, having recognized the futility of remaining. Weakly, the mighty skulltula wavered for but a moment before its body gave up any resistance, simply falling to the earth as its legs slowly shriveled up, allowing the Zora to yank out his spears from its ugly body.

His regalia signaling a prominent place atop their military ranks, the Zora man made sure to make their way to the beast's head, slipping the spear there free before approaching the Zora at Link's side with a frown.

"You must think these are simply handed out like herring," the older Zora muttered aloud.

The man at Link's side gave a cocky reply, "Hey, I had to improvise; I can't help that my father's losing a step in his old age."

A wry sort of smirk left the older man as he tossed the spear to his son, allowing the two a forceful handshake as they brought their shoulders to one another's in congratulatory zeal, "Don't think me weak simply because my speed has decreased; I can still beat you down if need be, son."

"Yeah, probably, only because I was never one for finesse," the son grinned, turning toward Link, "Hylian, I would greet you as a host, but- Judging from your weaponry, I doubt you're a mere traveler."

Link shook his head, "I'm not, really. My party sort of broke rank when that thing showed up."

He offered his hand, "Link. Royal Knight of Hyrule Kingdom."

"Royal Knight?!" the son-Zora exclaimed in surprise, "Your prowess is legendary, even among our circles here in the Domain! Well, depending on who you ask- My father-"

"Ahem," the older man cleared his throat with an invasive air, intending to cut his son off as he shook Link's hand, "Please ignore my son's familiarity. I'm Tovar, Knight of the highest Zoran order, and my son here is Zevan. He's _still_ a whelp."

Frowning, the subordinate challenged, "A whelp that just made better time that you when it came to saving a Hylian straggler."

"I'm not-" Link began, though was interrupted by the elder Tovar's tone.

"And yet you were so inefficient with the time you saved, my son," Tovar sighed with exasperation, "Still, you _did_ take on a rargvunt by yourself. I cannot deny you some amount of praise for such a feat. Just remember, this _is_ a Hylian soldier. Don't show your hand all at once."

He eyed Link, "No offense."

Shrugging, Link replied, "Hey, I understand. I used to come here with one of those first bands of Hylians after our people's relationship was on the mend. If anybody understands the history between our two peoples, it's me."

"Then you'll _excuse_ my father's skepticism," Zevan nearly pleaded as though wanting on Link's side, despite his father's disapproving gaze, "The Knights of your Kingdom were so ferocious during the wars, even our eldest military teachers cannot help but remain respectful despite the blood they managed to spill."

Link frowned, lowering his head, "Well, when you mention it like _that_…"

"Exactly why you _don't_ bring such things up," Tovar instructed with a groan, grabbing his son's shoulder and pulling him down in some attempt at punishment, earning a grumbling complaint from his son, "Link, was it? While I've little doubt you can protect yourself from here, part of our oath compels us to accompany those we've come to the aid of."

"I understand," Link nodded, "'Never a body amongst these shores', was it?"

Tovar smirked, "You _are_ well informed, Hylian. I'm sure our interests will conflict once I'm aware of what brings you here, but until then, I'll be happy to hear more of the finer things outsider such as yourself knows of my home."

He released his son, Zevan stepped away as he massaged his shoulder, Tovar instructing, "And I'm sure my son will be sure to heed the thoughtfulness I've instilled within him since he was a 'pole."

"Yes, father," Zevan replied begrudgingly, though still with a curious eye upon their guest.

* * *

_**A/N: I apologize if it seems as though I rushed through the Champion's excursion along Zora's River (I'm sure I could've gotten more creative and done more with the environment) but there SO MUCH I have for their time in Zora's Domain, and I'm tremendously excited for so much of what's about to happen, so I simply ended up with a single chapter. Hopefully none of it felt rushed or forced.**_

_**Also, Tovar and Zevan both appear in my other BotW fic, 'The Scales That Bind', which does take place after 'Champions' Tale', just in case you were unaware or forgot. If you haven't read it yet, considering how that story goes down, you might want to wait until the conclusion of this Vah Ruta part of 'Tale' xD**_


	25. An Uneasy Truce of an Entrance

Link kept a knowing glance upon the Domain as the two Zoran soldiers escorted him down the massive bridge, which was very much all that crossed much of the Zoran people with the outside world. Sure, Link recognized, it had, for millenia, bridged a geological gap, but there had been a number of times, within only the most long-lived of memories now, and no doubt recorded in texts, where such a concrete construction was near destruction.

King Rhoam's grandfather, eager to do away with the middle-managing of the Zora when it came to much of the Kingdom's water, had led an army against the seafaring people, a war which had, at one point, nearly seen the Hylian's success, the Kingdom of Hyrule nary a mile from the Domain when it had been decided by the Zora to destroy the very bridge upon which Link now strode in a final attempt at sovereignty.

It was that battle which the King of the Zora, Dorephan, first earned his stripes, so to speak, begging the then-King for one final retaliatory strike, wherein he would gladly assure his own demise before ever witnessing the destruction of his home. Such a ferocious assault proved fatal to the Hylian's advances, and the tide turned under Dorephan's newly appointed leadership, his mettle proving ever-appealing to the Princess of the Zora at the time, by whom Dorephan would eventually become King himself.

It was a tale Link knew so very well, his penchant for war stories proving rather ravenous at times during his childhood, and at his mother's side, coming to the Domain offered him a whole new world of valiant heroes and demons, all of which were overcome by the Zora's tenacity and unflinching resolve. He so admired these people's ability to truly revere and look up to the greatest amongst themselves, treating their soldiers with nothing but professional zeal and-

"Friends!" Tovar shouted within earshot of the Zoran guards standing at the end of the bridge, yanking Link from his thoughts.

The older Zora threw an arm around his son's shoulders and pulled him forcefully into his side, "Zevan has felled his first rargvunt!"

A boisterous chorus of praise burst from the guards as Tovar pushed his son into their brusquely brotherly embrace of congratulatory pats and playful shoves, all with a light enough air that took Link aback as he watched Zevan laughing happily amidst the childish praise.

"Cut it out!" he pleaded through his incessant laughter.

Tovar ordered, "To the mess area! Get him some wine- the finest!"

As the collective group began to disperse, Link shamefully lowered his head, thinking back to how otherworldly the Zora in ancient tales had been in their stony presentation amidst heroics.

He returned his thoughts to Dorephan, or rather, his daughter, wandering back to where his previous thoughts had left him. That union between Dorephan and the Princess solidified not only Dorephan's place within the annals of Zoran history, but also his incredible size. From what little Link knew, something particular took hold of the Zoran male from which the royal lineage continued, causing their bodies to increase rather dramatically in size, perhaps as some inwardly biological requirement to .maintain the abilities of a King. Perhaps, Link had thought, this was responsible for those ancient Zora who, once upon a time, worshipped giant fish- perhaps in some fish-y way, they had some silent rite to bear. Of course, this was all far more in Zelda's realm of thought, and Link hadn't ever thought much of the Zora in this way, even if, now, he worried Zelda might begin asking improper questions to construct hypotheses.

Mipha's mother, however, was quite a different matter. He remembered her well from his childhood journeys here, even at his young age finding her incredibly beautiful. Beyond even that, she'd had such grace within her benevolence that Link recalled believing her to be of another, more serene world entirely, even her words taking to the wind like a gentle stream of water rolling down a brook.

It was all the more jarring, then, upon learning she had passed away some time ago. By then, he'd matured enough to delve into legitimate research when free from his training, discovering that, in a tragic bout of fate, Zoran women often did not survive more than a handful of births, usually only allowing three or four offspring before perishing. Old tales cast this event as a beautiful one amidst the tragedy, for whom else would offer up their very lives for those who would surely become far better Zora than the women of this race?

Of course, before she left this world, she had blessed her people with a male heir to pair with Mipha, the princess's brother, Sidon, who would ultimately succeed their father, much to Mipha's relief, Link had already found out during this journey. For all her grace that so emulated her mother, Mipha hated the idea of being bound to this place, not when there were conflicts elsewhere- when there were ties to be bound and spades to be buried amongst the people of Hyrule.

Link suddenly thought of how personal this Company might have been to her.

"Hylian," Tovar spoke up with an authoritative tone, jerking Link back to reality, "I know the beauty of this Domain as much as anybody else, yet it does not still hold me idle. We mustn't dally here at its entrance."

Link shook away the lingering thoughts clouding his mind, "S-Sorry. Of course."

Tovar smirked as Link stepped toward him, "You said you've been here before, correct? Surely this is nothing new."

"It's not, just-" Link paused for a moment's respite, "There's just a lot about this place that I've come to know well."

Nodding with an air of nostalgia, Tovar replied, "Understandable, I suppose. Still, I presume you're in search of your comrades?"

"Correct."

The Zora soldier went on, "Merely stumbling upon our home, they would not have gotten far. Come."

Link did as instructed, watching his feet gently take to the marbelline platform beneath him, as if he hadn't left in those many years. Like a fish in water, so to speak, he found that he had taken to it quite readily, though his legs began to ache quickly to his cautious steps, his muscles unable to retain what his mind could.

Soon enough, the rest of his party came into sight, the lot of them huddled together in almost lackadaisical solicitation, spearheaded by Urbosa, who was simply lying there as if she were playing dead, perhaps to attempt and gain some sympathy from the guards, all of whom remained nonplussed. Mipha was still not among them, Link noted, before his attention was drawn to Zelda's wildly waving arm, her eyes wide with excitement.

"Link! Over here!" she chimed, "You didn't tell me it was _this_ wonderful! I mean, look! The cliffs shimmer with the waning sunlight! I even caught a glimpse of a few rainbows catching the misty air earlier!"

Hopping in place, her hands clasped together, she fi ally came to a stop before asking, noticing Link's armored escort, "Did you make it alright?"

"Oh, yeah," Link replied sarcastically, eying Daruk and Revali, with only the former showing remorse, "Thankfully, Tovar here was kind enough to come to my aid."

"Aid?" questioned Zelda emphatically, "The others simply said you'd fallen behind after defeating our skulltula friend."

Link rolled his eyes as Tovar proudly slammed his fist into the armor adorning his chest, "I can assure you, no harm came to your friend. Not so long as I have responsibility over the safety of our guests."

Almost reverently, Zelda's eyes gleamed in deepening g respect for the soldier, her voice wavering in reply, "Th- Thank you so much!"

She offered her hand, "I am Zelda, Princess of Hyrule Kingdom. You have my utmost respect and thanks."

Tovar nodded respectfully, taking the Princesses' hand into a shake, "I was not expected such regal company today, but I can assure you, so long as you're here, I will do everything that I can to make your stay as pleasant as possible."

Revali gave a scoff, "You think you can free us from these villainous guards, then? As soon as we arrived, at a furious pace, mind you!, they had us immediately accosted without so much as an explanation!"

The two Zora soldiers on either side of the group remained motionless, though Tovar replied with a chuckle, "I'm afraid, without approval from either our royal family or the council , that is our standard operating procedure. so lo g as you have Hylians within your Company, that is."

"Gah!" Revali scoffed in a fluttery voice, "Have you no shame?"

Tovar nodded, "I do. I also have men whom I answer to. Councilor Muzu has been adamant for years about ensuring our Hylian guests are treated with some level of discretion."

"Is there any particular reason?" Zelda asked sincerely, "I wasn't- I mean, I was aware our peoples had something of a tenuous relationship, but-"

As she spoke, Link eyed Urbosa's lifeless body, reaching a foot over to shove at her shoulder, leaving the Gerudo to immediately break character, frowning, "Watch yourself, boy."

"Just making sure you weren't dead," Link shrugged.

Shamelessly, Urbosa explained, "If they believe I have a condition, they might allow me to walk freely."

"Or they'll send you away in fear of some encroaching illness," Link surmised with a droll tone.

Quietly battling the urge to argue for her own reasoning, Urbosa slowly rose back up to her feet, grumbling to herself as she shook her head, earning her a gentle pat on the shoulder as Link muttered, "I admire your dedication, though."

"Shut it," she retorted with a wry smirk, turning her attention back to the others.

Tovar pointed in the direction of Dorephan's chamber, "-Until Lady Mipha returns, I'm afraid you'll have to stay put."

Revali complained, "Abd what if she were to _never_ return?!"

Shrugging, Tovar replied, "I suppose you all might die here."

Undeterred by such a threatening answer, Revali's eyes remained locked upon Tovar's frame, the Zora finally cocking his head with a quick, "Or we simply let you go."

Zelda shook her head, "Oh no! Don't worry; Mi- Lady Mipha will return and get us up to that reservoir, no problem! I assure you, we-!"

She paused due to a sudden elbow from Link slamming softly into her arm, her mind rattled as if she understood that she had said something wrong, though unsure what exactly she'd let out. Tovar's suddenly suspicious stare told her all she needed to know, his head remaining still while his eyes scanned the group slowly.

"What business have you with the reservoir..?" he spoke with a somewhat seething tone.

Hoping to play diplomat, Daruk stepped forward, clearing his throat, "My good man, we merely were offered an invitation by Lady Mipha herself to witness its grandeur! to celebrate the formation of this Company, of course."

Rather impressed, Link's lips rolled in agreement as Tovar eyed him down, seeming to be cross-examining Daruk's explanation with whatever little Link had offered on the final stretch to the Domain. The Zora was obviously protective of the gigantic basin, Link knew, which might have been why Tovar was directing his interrogation toward the others.

"And this Company includes Lady Mipha?" he questioned cooly.

Zelda nodded with a smile, "Yes, sir! And she's been a wonderful addition, at that!"

Tovar replied quietly, "And this Company, what of its purpose?"

"To-!" Zelda immediately began to reply enthusiastically, stopping only after another bump at her arm from one of the others.

The Zora's brow arose suspiciously while Urbosa spoke up, "Simply put, we're all-"

"With all due respect," Tovar interrupted suddenly, "I would like to hear it from the Princess herself."

The others' collective heart dropped. Zelda lie? Sure, her intentions in forming this group had been shady at best, but to so plainly lie? Urbosa and Link, those who knew her best, felt their lungs fill with air as they awaited the poor young woman's attempt at espionage, Zelda remaining there with a plain look upon her face, Link especially praying that she wouldn't dare speak of Vah Ruta or the other Divine Beasts.

"We're hoping to travel around and better improve relations with all the people of Hyrule!" Zelda returned with enough excitement to remain sincere, her smile beaming, "So, Mr. Tovar, sir, thank you for having us in your wonderful home!"

Undeterred by her peachy tone, Tovar's lips nonetheless tugged in understanding as he nodded coolly, "I suppose that _might_ be the job of a princess such as yourself. Getting to view the reservoir might be a tall task, even for Lady Mipha. You need permission from either King Dorephan himself, or one of the Guarding Lineages who have overseen the basin for centuries."

"Wow! Quite the protected piece of property!" Daruk with awe.

Tovar nodded, "I suppose the point might be moot for the Gorons of the north, but the reservoir was a responsibility preordained by the goddesses long before we were capable of standing upright. They understood, even then, that one day, we Zora would be able to hold upon the mantle of ownership with tremendous zeal, and to this day, we've kept the waters of Hyrule flowing which also not allowing it to flood."

"Tch," Revali clicked dramatically, "I suppose you believe it takes a great deal of effort to water over still waters."

The Zora smirked, "Perhaps not the water itself, but such responsibility- Even our current watcher, Navo, will tell you, it comes not from the water itself. Our home was once nearly been overtaken by the Hylians, but we were far too prepared to sacrifice our very home before ever dating to consider flooding the Hylian's lands in retaliation."

He nodded proudly, "To hold watch over that basin is an honor, I'm afraid, that the Rito might find incompatible with all that makes them glorious among the sailing winds."

Revali was taken aback by the poetry waxed upon the end of something of an insult, offering little else in the way of resistance as Tovar continued, "Navo himself, he's of an odd sort, but he has become so much in tune with the reservoir's waters, the expanse of which the basin flows, and of Vah Ruta herself."

"Ah!" Zelda suddenly seized, Link recognizing that she had merely been waiting for him to bring it up first, "What might you tell us about Vah Ruta?"

Tovar chuckled, such a tone coming across as rather out of character, given his austere presence, "If Lady Mipha truly is a part of your Company, I will leave it to her to reveal whatever she chooses. It is not the place of a soldier to do the same."

"Oh, come on," Zelda smirked, leaning on closer to bridge the gap from her softened words, "You can tell us-"

Link's eyes lifted to find Mipha approaching, the words around him nearly evaporating as he watched her gait, which seemed to take on a far more pronounced grace now that she was among her people. Her eyes matched his own, though she was quick to raise a hand to hide her sweetly smiling lips, averting her eyes in whatever of a blush a Zora might behold.

"I don't _care_ how many Hylian Fish candies you send our way," Tovar groaned in exasperation, already tired of Zelda's pestering.

Urbosa took hold of the young woman's shoulder, reigning her in as Zelda quickly retorted, "W- What about-?!"

"That's enough, child," chided Urbosa with a frown.

Her arms now folded in frustration, Zelda noticed Mipha's presence with elation, suddenly raising a hand in greeting, "Mi-! Er, Lady Mipha."

Tovar turned with a swift bow as Mipha joined the group, smiling softly as she asked, "Tovar hasn't been _too_ stiff, has he?"

"That's one way of putting it," Revali frowned.

Happily enough, Mipha offered, "He's one of our greatest assets so far as our soldiers go. He's a big softie, though, when he's not worrying about potential threats."

Suddenly turning his head with nervousness, Tovar scratched his chin, "L- Lady Mipha, I-"

"Don't bother trying to explain it away, Tovar," Mipha giggled, "Have you any idea how long my father has been cloistered within his chambers?"

The Champions' ears perked up.

Tovar shook his head, "I was not aware of such a thing. I just returned from patrol with my son, so I'm a bit late on any new information. I will be sure to get with my soldiers, however, and get back to you."

Nodding slowly, Mipha's lips curled feverishly, "It's not like him to prevent any audience to any matter that arises. I'm a little bit concerned; I waited outside for an hour before coming down here, but nothing new arose."

Tovar acknowledged her worries with an authoritative tone, "I will be sure to gather what information I can for you, Lady Mipha."

"Thank you," she smiled, turning to the Champions, "These are my friends, as well, so allow me to alleviate any misgivings you might have about them."

Tovar stepped back, "I- I was just-"

"I understand," Mipha nodded gently, "Thank you."

The senior soldier took his leave, allowing Mipha to take a sharp breath as her shoulders slumped, shaking her head, "Sorry to leave you all down here like this."

"It isn't a problem!" Daruk assured her, "Even while being prisoners, it's quite easy to take in the scenery here!"

Mipha groaned sadly, "Sorry…"

Urbosa quickly took hold of her shoulder with a grin, "_Never_ apologize, especially not in your own domain. So, your father isn't seeing anyone at the moment, leaving us with little when it comes to reaching the reservoir, correct?"

"Pretty much," Mipha agreed, "Though, we could ask Navo to allow us entry, but he's very… strict about who sees those waters. He's kind of, well-"

Her lips curled, crossing her arms in reservation as her brow furrowed in worry, "He's been a Watcher for many years, and- As a result, he's kind of, uh-"

The Company awaited an answer with quiet curiosity, rising rather gradually given Mipha's apprehension, the Zora's voice finally breaking, "You remember how Vah Nabooris was a machine, yet still seemed to have properties of a living being?"

They nodded, with Urbosa replying, "True. It's sandstorms are powerful, but not once has it ever happened to wander close enough to our town to do damage. If anything, it seems more liable to help defend us."

"Well," Mipha weakly continued, "Vah Ruta is much the same. In Navi's case, however, it seems as though he's taken the sentiment a bit too far…"

Revali's mantle shook, "I beg your pardon?"

"He's, uh, taken his responsibility greater than most, and as a result, hes become tremendously protective of the Beast," Mipha finally offered, shamefully.

Urbosa cocked her head to the side, "What, is he, like, in _love_ with it?"

"How sweet!" opined Zelda.

Mipha rubbed her face dismissively, "So to speak, I suppose. Watchers have to be very much in tune with the life-giving waters that Vah Ruta provides, so the best of those families have to sort of _understand_ the Beast to predict water generation, and whether, and when, to release our waters when it becomes necessary. Navo seems to have truly come to revere the Beast as a result of his many years in her service."

Daruk's eyes fell quizzically, "But… it's a machine."

"I know, I know," Mipha sighed, "But he's, easily, the best Watcher in recent memory."

Arms crossed in consideration, Link chewed at his lip, "So we might require your father's decree before Navo allows us anywhere near Vah Ruta?"

"Basically, yes, you're correct," Mipha nodded, "I could try convincing him, but I doubt my words would hold the amount of sway required to break him from his guard."

Zelda leaned down to take hold of her backpack, "Well! We've clearly not been on the side of the odds _this_ far into our journey. Might it be worth at least checking out?"

Shrugging meekly, Mipha nodded, "It wouldn't hurt. Besides, it'll take some time to prepare your rooms for the night."

"Rooms?!" Daruk spoke up excitedly, "How luxurious!"

Urbosa challenged with a grin, "A man made from rock, I suppose, _would_ find any old room to be so."

"Hey, the elements here might be the most detrimental to us Gorons," Daruk retorted with a worrisome air, "The thought of these waters coursing across my body… It's enough to erode my sediments."

Mipha smiled as proudly as she could manage, "They're not _rooms_, exactly, but they should be enough to keep you from any mist that might rise high enough to bother you. At least, not if…"

Her tone suddenly began to vanish as Mipha stroked her chin with worry, earning a suspicious reply from Zelda, "'Not if-' what?"

"Well," Mipha struggled, "The only rooms available- Four of us will have to double up, so as long as Urbosa doesn't mess around with the curtains too much-"

"Ha!" Urbosa laughed quickly, shooting a glance toward Daruk, "Roommates?! I'll be sure to accommodate your presence, only if you finally avail me to chance to take you on in a arm wrestling match."

Daruk boasted back in reply as Zelda did the math in her head, turning toward Mipha, "So you and me-"

"Uh, actually…" Mipha managed, "Revali, I figured, would prefer a room alone, and- Well, it would be imprudent for a Princess such as yourself to resort to such a situation…"

Zelda smirked with a look of incredulity, "Rooming with you? Really, it wouldn't be any-"

Her eyes caught a weakened pulling of Mipha's shoulders as the Zora averted her gaze, smiling with all the sincerity of a child, as Zelda realized her intentions, "O-Oh! You and-"

"Shh!" Mipha quickened her timbre as she hastened close to Zelda, turning to find the others still-entranced by Urbosa and Daruk's challenges, "D- Don't!"

Reassuringly so, Zelda patted her fellow sister in royalty upon the shoulder, "Don't worry; I won't say a word. We gotta stick together, right?"

Such sisterly words hadn't often been given to Mipha, allowing her a moment of warm respite before she nodded solemnly with a grin, "Yeah."

Without further provocation, Zelda suddenly wondered aloud, "I bet there _were_ rooms, huh? You were just-"

"Z-Zelda!" Mipha shouted in fright, only then catching the abrupt halt of conversation behind her, turning to find the others entranced by her outburst, not the least of which Link, who's eyes carried over her like moonlight.

"So- Sorry…"


	26. Matters That Silence Even a King

Watcher Navo was a weird man. Perhaps it had been preordained; after all, he'd been a hatchling of a lengthy line of Watchers, those Zora deemed worthy of keeping watch over, not merely the reservoir, but of Vah Ruta herself. Such an activity might have demanded a certain level of oddity, perhaps; it often required a certain level of separateness from the other Zora, if only due to the amount of attention to detail.

The water levels, so incredibly important when the basin was basically home to a massive water-producing machine, had to be monitored at all times. With the detail of a skilled mathematician, with only the entirety of Hyrule upon their shoulders, the Watchers had to maintain the most delicate of balances; too much water and the reservoir would overflow, causing a traumatic effect not only to the higher beings of Hyrule, but to every form of life, yet too little, the receding waters would fail to be high enough to exit, should the land require water in a drought, or for unfulfilled seasons of crops that might threaten starvation.

Another matter of immense importance came to the maintenance of Vah Ruta itself. Having spent, apparently, the duration of its existence halfway beneath the water's surface, the Watchers were routinely expected to clear debris or chip away rust whenever it began to form, another task that seemed tailor-made for the people inhabiting the same realm. This was all before the interior maintenance, which required all the same care, as well as tending to the basin itself; a truly laborious task, one that Navo himself had, after enough years, had turned into something of a labor of love.

That very thing, however, was what made him such a trusted man for the task, even if it were to become something of a detriment. Coming from a line of Watchers, all bred for the task, Navo had been expected to offer at least one child to arise in his stead to be anything of a worthy successor to serve Vah Ruta, but between his odd mind already, as well as his eyes, only for the Divine Beast's care, it soon enough became a problem as the man aged with nothing of an heir.

This had all transpired before Mipha's own birth, however; by the time she'd come up into the world of the Zora, Navo's spouse had already passed away as a result of her first, and only spawn. However his bride had managed to take the man's heart, Mipha had only ever known him as ever more cloistered within his awkwardity, his affections for Vah Ruta further calcified, as if to make up for no longer having a wife. Sadly, as a result, he progressively bored a strenuous relationship with his daughter, now a child, who often went on being raised by the other Zora in preparation for guiding the reservoir in the future.

"So, please, just- Don't take any offense," Mipha explained as she concluded her tale, "He's a good man. A _very_ good man. Just- His heart had already been scarred by being alone for so long, so after losing somebody who meant to much-"

She sighed, lowering her head in respect, "It's not you guys. He's like this with everybody."

Traversing the soggy earth that made up the pathway from Zora's Domain to the East Reservoir, the Champions couldn't help but admire the immense sheet of solid architecture that seemed to tear through the earth before rising up toward the endless heavens above, making up the western edge of the mighty reservoir. Revali, specifically, stroked the plumage at his neck with interest, his narrowed eyes sizing up the gigantic show of technological prowess.

"Don't worry," Link assured Mipha, breaking the Rito from his deepening thoughts, "Perhaps the goddess knew about this encounter and brought Revali to us in order to prepare us for scathing critiques and off-putting dialogue."

Revali's head fell to the side in astute reply, "I understand your attempt to insult me, Hylian, though I would argue thick skin is needed in this world. I would not apologize for granting unto you a more resilient hide."

With a boisterous vigor, Daruk began to chuckle, patting his arm proudly as he eyed Link, "Guess I _do_ got'ya beat there, Brother!"

"I do mean _within_ yourself, Goron," Revali confirmed with a hint of revulsion in his voice, "Despite my valiant composition, I never would have reached my current state of grandeur had I not the wherewithal to press on whenever I was told to roll over and perish."

Shrugging, Revali boasted easily, "Perhaps this man here, Navo- He's overcome much in his life, yet he still stands boldly at his post. His ambition may yet be made of sterner stuff."

Mipha couldn't help but smile weakly at such a hopeful description made of one of her people, yet she ultimately knew that Revali's opinion might very well change soon enough. Not a moment later, the reason for the Rito's declaration became rather clear.

"Unlike this Hylian, here," he muttered, offering a presenting hand in Link's direction, "Given any accolades by little of his own merit."

Link challenged lightly, cocking his head toward the Sword slung beneath his backpack, "Hey, I did fifteen sit-ups before trying my hand at this Sword."

"Pah! and then you resort to humor," Revali complained.

Daruk grinned, "You say that, yet so much of what you say is hilarious!"

"Unintentionally, I'm sure," replied Revali with a tame voice, "I'm still attempting to understand the _last_ one."

Link was quick to bring Daruk to a halt, "Best you don't bring this up. The less he knows, the more amusing his words will be."

"Just keep your feeble attention on my presentation, Hylian. Soon enough, when my name is etched upon the very stone upon which histories are written, none of your quips will be remembered," Revali shrugged, turning his attention to the wall of the reservoir, "Just like this grandiose construction here! See how it tears through the very firmament that contains so many of this world's life? I shall do the very same!"

"I, for one, admire that resilience," Zelda spoke up happily, "I know very little of your culture, admittedly, but I do understand enough to know how you came into this world and how you've persevered! Like I told the others back at Sanadin- it's why I selected you!"

Link turned toward her, "Selected?! I thought we just asked for whomever their Elder could afford?"

Sticking out her tongue, Zelda teased, "Gotcha!"

Nodding reverently, Revali explained, "Yes, my parents abandoned me before I had even hatched. Such things for us Rito are particularly barbaric; nobody would have me. So from my own existence as a hatchling, I made my own way in this world. You'd be wise to recognize such abilities as you transition into kingship."

"Oh, I certainly will!" Zelda exuberantly replied.

Urbosa replied, "It's an unfortunate way to begin a life, I'll grant you that."

"Bah, I don't require any sympathy," Revali immediately halted her, "I've amassed much experience and ability so that such things are no longer afforded me! You only need to see the man I am today."

Smirking, Link shook his head, "Oh, trust me, we _have_."

Before Revali could retort, Mipha's bright timbre carried an unfortunate topic as she spoke up, "I hate it for you nonetheless. We Zora care for all our children, regardless of parental ownership. In fact, it's nearly a collective thing to begin with; all our taddies sleep amongst all the other Zora as if they are bred up by everybody, as they quite honestly are."

She smiled lightly, "Even after my mother passed, it was nice to know I had so many people to turn to… I hate that you hadn't the same ability."

A quick scoff left Revali as he shrugged, "Such things would have only impeded my progress, if not stripped from me the very drive I hold now. Examining myself now, my mother abandoning me must have been the best thing to happen to me."

The collective mood gradually began to dim at such words, though Revali didn't seem to notice, his eyes simply returning to the ever-growing cliff of solid, smooth ore that only increased in radiance as they approached. Zelda turned to catch Mipha's head having fallen, smiling only with the most heart-wrenching of weakened smiles as she strode along. She reached over to gently hold onto the Zora's shoulder, causing Mipha to jerk slightly in surprise as her head bolted upward to match Zelda's soft expression, knowing that the two of them, without a mother, couldn't have so readily accepted a fate that Revali had. In some ways- in _many_ ways- the two of them would be mourning well on into their lives.

"P-! P-! APPROACHETH!" came a sudden, shrill outcry from up ahead, a rather lithe Zora rushing in their direction as they quickly slammed a hand into the sliding visor of their helmet to yank it shut, hiding their face behind a mask of metal, "Who approacheth the Reservoir? WHO?!"

He came to a halt not a few strides away, spreading his feet into a defensive posture as he threw is arms ahead of him, aiming his spear in the direction of the Champions. Despite his helmet, much of his body was quite readily exposed to combatants; even though Link was aware of how powerful scales could be, he knew how foolish such a thing might be if a Zora sought protection.

"WHO?!" he repeated, jabbing the air with his spear as Mipha hurried to the fore.

"N-Navo!" she shouted in worry, "It's just me!"

A tepid growl came from the man behind the iron helmet, "H- H- How do I know you're not an im-…POSTER? Eh?!"

Daruk scratched his head as he turned toward Mipha, "How're you supposed to-"

"SI-! SILENCE!"

The Zora suddenly jabbed his spear at Daruk, poking rather roughly at the Goron's stomach which forced a confused glance from Daruk, "Hey now!"

"Y-YEAH! There's m- more where _that_ came from if you remain in- inso- in-SOLENT!"

Daruk's face fell with worry as he examined the jittery man before him, Navo's body immediately whipping to the side in self-defense as Mipha created movement, reaching up to her neck to pull apart one of her necklaces before offering it to the man.

"See?" she asked with a smile.

The soldier readily stepped back as she slowly offered her hand, a rather quick, violent movement as far as Navo was concerned, before examining the ornate jewelry for a moment, stepping only so much closer to better eye the piece. Quickly, his head jarred upward toward the others, retreating another step before readying his spear once again.

"And-! And them!" he demanded, a shaky tenor hiding in his authoritative tone, "What do I make of- of them?!"

Mipha quietly offered as she pulled her arm back into herself, "They're my friends. This is-"

She pointed along in introduction.

Daruk nodded.

Urbosa, arms crossed, simply pursed her lips in hastening thought if the man before her were to strike in a sudden, brazen show of aggression.

Revali's eyes remained strained, as if in disbelief that he'd defended this man only a moment earlier.

Link blankly looked up, unsure of what to make of the current situation.

Saved for last in a show of respect, Mipha finally introduced, "And this is Princess Z-"

"P- Pyu- Putrid Hylians! All of them!" Navo weakly asserted as his eyes traced the two swords on Link's person, "Muzu's said as much!"

Mipha countered with a soft tone, motioning toward Link, "But Link has been here before. Remember those Hylian bands that used to visit?"

His body shivering, Navo's masked head whipped back and forth between the two, finally locking onto Link, "D- D- Does he- know the- the evopha? Huh?!"

The Champions' head all turned quizzically toward Link as his pack hit the ground, sighing lightly as he broke through the group toward Navo's direction as the Zora suddenly raised his spear, breathing heavily enough for the air to ring as it passed through the grates of iron in his visor. Mipha watched hopefully, though with worry, knowing what was about to transpi-

Navo unleashed his arms like a bowstring, his spear careening through the air toward Link's chest before the Hylian immediately injected a burst of spin into his movement, whipping to the side as he hopped into the air, forcing his foot atop Navo's spear and directing in straight into the ground as he fell in the grand display of a graceful parry. As his feet hit the ground, however, Link slipped upon the moist surface below, falling backward with a _THUD_ as he lay there seething.

"Oww…"

Still with a weak stammering, Navo's voice reappeared with a new curiosity, "You know to parry like a Zora."

"It's- gah! …been a while," Link offered as Daruk stepped over to help him up.

Navo turned to the others, "What of _you_ all?"

Immediately recoiling, Zelda's arms flew against her chest in fright, eyes widening at the thought of emulating a soldier, though Urbosa immediately stepped forward with a chuckle, "I haven't a clue what that was! but no time like the present to learn, eh, fish boy?"

"F-Fish boy..?" Navo wondered, confused, before readying himself beneath Urbosa's mighty and fierce posture.

Before much else could incur the wrath of her father, Mipha stepped forward with a sigh, "Okay. Urbosa, step down. Navo, _calm_ down. I know your intentions are true, but-"

"My in- in- ten- intentions are to do what I've been d- doing, proudly, for decades!" Navo clarified, his hands still straddling the hilt of his spear with a tightness that revealed the spongy skin between the cracks of his scales.

Mipha sighed, her lips curling thoughtfully, "How's Gaddison?"

"Gaddi-" Navo paused, his voice tinged with shock as if not having anticipated such a direct question, "She- She's fine. I, uh-"

Suddenly at ease, Navo lowered his head, "One of- She- A tutor brought her up here the other day. She, uh- I don't remember the last time she wanted- to see me."

Her smile falling into a something of a regretful expression, Mipha spoke up quietly, "Did it go well?"

"Y- Yeah…" the man nodded slowly, "She'd brought- She had stuff for a picnic, so- I taught her the v- various parts of Vah Ruta, so- so she'd, uh-"

Mipha bowed her head in acknowledgement, "I know. I'm happy for you two."

"Th- Tha- Thank you," Navo answered in kind, "What, uh- What events bring you here today?"

Taking a moment to consider how to progress, Mipha attempted to tactfully ask aloud, "Well, the Princess here, Zelda-"

Zelda raised a hand with a crooked smile, wiggling her fingers hers in something if a playful wave.

"-she's a scholar of sorts, so we've all been sort of exploring and learning all that we can about the Guardians, the Sheikah, the Divine Beasts-"

Even before she finished, Navo's glare grew sour, forcing Mipha to reorient her question mid-stride, "so, you know, I figured who better to ask than a Watcher themselves when it came to Vah Ruta."

Although his skittish nature seemed to have been quelled, it only seemed to have heightened Navo's skepticism, his eyes narrowing as they ran along the line of foreign beings standing before him. The Zora shook his head plainly in reply, gripping tightly onto his spear as if anticipating an unwelcoming reply from the others.

"Not without the approval of my lee- liege," Navo concluded, "I apologize, Lady Mipha, b- but I cannot afford even your word any con- sid- consideration on this matter."

He eyed the others, "Foul beings lurk where you least expect them to."

"Now hold on-!" Urbosa challenged before Mipha's voice rose to interrupt her.

"_Thank_ you, Navo. We did not mean to be a bother," she turned to the other Champions, "We'll inquire further with my father and return tomorrow."

Navo's shoulder twitched, "Perhaps you should w- wait longer than that to ask. Word along the stream is that King Dorephan is en- tertaining a rather seedy character in his chambers. Some even have said the guest was completely cl- cloaked in robes, guided by an entourage of even more menacing individuals."

Mipha's brow furrowed curiously, unsure of how to take this rumor. She instinctively turned toward Link, who shrugged in reply, before returning to Navo.

"Thank you for letting me know. I already have Tovar gathering what he can from the Domain ranks. If word has spread even out here to the Watchers, it mustn't be a benign sort of gossip," she explained with a down turned tone in her voice, unsure of what had arrived in her home.

Navo nodded, "I a- apo- apologize if I've caused any t- trouble."

"Maybe not to _her_," Urbosa suddenly charged with a pithy tlne, earning Navo's ironclad glare.

* * *

The sun had begun to set as the Champions returned to Zora's Domain, with Mipha remaining rather fretful as they'd made their way back atop the pristine material that made up the entire platformous design of the grand location. Link could tell she was forcing herself to keep from fleeing ahead of the others, biting back her energy to retain that group-energy, though perhaps it had also been some apprehension at the thought of what might be happening. Her form was slouched forward, as if ready to pounce, even as they all rounded the ramp way that would take them just outside Dorephan's chamber.

"What do you think it might be?" Urbosa asked aloud quizzically, "Seems rather odd that they'd arrived before we had, yet that Zora at the head of the river spoke nothing of their presence to his own Princess."

Mipha sighed, "They must have been Zora, in that case; it's the only reason Hakes wouldn't have thought it necessary to mention."

"And at that," Zelda surmised in studious fashion, "Navo had said the lot of them had seemed rather seedy, right? You think they might be that Niq squad?"

Link shrugged, "They're a fringe group, so I doubt their ability to gain King Dorephan's attention for such a dramatic length of time."

"True," Mipha agreed quietly to herself.

Her hand raised to her chin, fingers stroking her skin there, Urbosa asked Mipha with a serene authoritativeness, as if in the same vein as an instructor, "Are you afraid..?"

Such a question was off-putting, yet as Mipha clamored for a reply, she soon discovered that she certainly had harbored something of worry, weakly admitting as much as she answered, "I mean… It's so out of character for my father… Not extending an audience, I mean."

"Your father's wisdom is known even to us Gerudo," Urbosa nodded helpfully, smiling brightly as she swift gave the Zora princess a pat upon the shoulder, "I'm sure whatever has him subdued, it is merely for the sake of the people he leads."

"-Here comes Tovar," Link suddenly perked up to get the others' attention, though Revali only gave a critical scowl as the high-ranking soldier approached.

The older man nodded respectfully, earning the same from Mipha, before beginning, "I asked all of my soldiers, and the ones who saw the procession mention a handful of six Zora escorting another cloaked figure, which seemed to bear the silhouette of a Zora themselves, though some were not sure. They wouldn't answer to anybody but the Council of Elders, so they were taken to the Chamber for an audience with Dorephan, though any eavesdropping was ceased not a few minutes in. Muzu had the entrance sealed."

Tovar gave a skeptical glare toward the huge precipice of tail fins that covered Dorephan's Chamber, "Mapor was guarding the area. He said Muzu's face was not one of a calm man."

Worry crept further up Mipha's spine as the Champions turned toward the Chamber, following Tovar's lead as the entrance to the Chamber suddenly began to open, majestic doorways split apart as a small chorus of ragged-looking Zora began to stroll out back into the general space of the Domain. Their faces were brusque, scales torn, scars painting so many of their bodies, one's dorsal fin ripped half-off while yet another had nearly the entire fin atop their head torn off.

"Hile and Toko said they wouldn't have allowed them entry under normal means," Tovar spoke gravelly, the group of him and the Champions with their eyes glued to the shady collection of battle-scarred Zora, finally followed by the same cloaked figure, stepping out covered in ornate, thick robes, even covering their face. Another Zora, easily the least scarred of the bunch, so much so that he might even be called pristine, held the figure's arm and guided them as if the one within the shroud were truly sightless beneath those sheets.

"…however," Tovar muttered, "At least one of them used to be among us Zora here at the Domain."

Daruk, his face curled in consternation, wondered aloud, "Are there Zora who aren't from here?"

"Not many, so far as we know," Tovar replied cooly, "We've had a few undesirables forced into exile, oftentimes because of them being a nuisance or violent to others. That said-"

The shape of a head beneath the cloak turned upward, only barely, turning to the side as if to examine the ground beside them as they blindly continued on- almost in the direction of the Champions.

Mipha felt a chill.

"-I wouldn't doubt tribes have sprung up elsewhere as a result. Much how Hylians have other settlements. It would make the membership within the Niq more clear," Tovar finished with a heated breath.

The figure dropped its head once again as its guide gripped their arm tighter, the young man peevishly turning his head to examine the Zora inhabiting the Domain, most of them watching with suspicion of the out-of-place guests. As they approached the stairway that led down to the vestibule, the two guards there keeping wary glances upon the arriving entourage. The largest Zora of the bunch, a massive, burly sort, threw his shoulders toward them, his presence enormous enough to cause the two soldiers to recoil as the guests progressed, laughing amongst themselves with a jockish air.

"They certainly don't _look_ friendly," Urbosa surmised with a pithy air, scowling as she did so.

"Not at all," Zelda confirmed with a low tone in her voice, sizing up the small school of Zora trouncing along as if they owned the place.

Not long after the entryway had become vacant, Mipha began forcefully stepping up the ramp to find her father for an explanation, Tovar quick to follow her with his eyes as she strode up to the guards there with a regal air reverberating along her scales.

"I need to see my fa-!"

"He said he would take no more visitors," the guard, Mapor, interrupted, his powerful voice immediately surrendering itself to a soft tone as his shoulders slumped, not thrilled at having to say such a thing to his princess, "I'm sorry Lady Mipha."

She watched him with a critical stare, though her brow was furrowed in concern, more in an effort to show him that she wasn't angry at him, merely frustrated by the situation, before whipping her head around her shoulder to watch the strangers saunter off out of view as they made their way down the staircase.

A deep breath overtook her as her eyes remained still.

Who might they have been to bring her father, the King, to silence?

* * *

_**A/N: I understand that, on the whole, people don't seek out fan-fiction to read about original characters (which is unfortunate since, when I wrote 'Scales', I never knew I'd write 'Tale', so I used up all the in-game people in that story wherein Link MEETS them, so they can't very well be introduced here!) so hopefully any and all of my OCs are enjoyable or captivating enough for you guys to get some sense of attachment or amusement out of them- I just don't want them to be out of place if at all possible.**_

_**That said, as shown in the 'prologue' of this Vah Ruta part of the story, Dolare, Mipha's 'brother', becomes the main antagonist, and while I originally thought of him to be a simple antagonist, giving the Champions most of the character stuff in this part, as I've constructed him in my mind, he's become SO much more of a character that'd I'd love to explore while he's in the story here.**_

_**So, my question for you guys is basically how willing are you to read up on original characters versus in-game characters? I would love to do some flashback chapters on Dolare, which will obviously be 90% my own canon for the most part, but if you guys aren't interested, I've zero problem sticking to the story as-in and leaving my OC stuff pittered in throughout instead of being so focused on.**_

_**I'll leave it up to you guys in terms of suggestions or thoughts! I know there's a stigma toward OCs, but if you read my other stuff, you'll quickly find that I have no problem making my OCs vulnerable, interesting, and deep characters whom I've zero inhibitions about killing off if need be xD On my social media (same username as here) I'll often contemplate these problems, so if you'd like my thoughts, you can go check those out and see some of what I have in mind for Dolare if you're interested :D**_


	27. Zorana Nightfall

Being a race of ancient fish who had taken to the land with scales leaving them unadorned with much of any clothing, privacy wasn't much of an idea amongst the Zora, so far as their personal appearances, anyway. For the longest time, Zora's Domain, as such, remained wholly unbarred by walls, doors, whatever else, simply offering to the Zora's unneeded masking of anything relating to nudity- their scales were their clothing, even if a few enterprising Gorons had once attempted to brand clothen garb to the people of the Domain, a venture which never really took off.

Regardless, as their interactions grew with those of the outside world, namely the Gerudo and Hylians, the Zora expanded upon their innate sense of bringing to bear stupendous hosting abilities, and introduced ornate tapestries to be used as makeshift walls, put up for the same privacy they lacked much of an awareness of, for any guests that might arrive. These were one of the few preparations required of Mipha when she left the Champions, and now, as the moon settled among the stars, one of the Domains many platforms now shone in silhouette against the cliffs of Zorana, blanketed by these four makeshift rooms of walled tapestry.

It was here that the pitter-patter of feet rang out gently in the night as Mipha carefully scampered up the adjoining rampart, a tray of drink and snacks for her guests in her arms; even if she were among them, she couldn't resist the compulsion to also remain a good host as the Princess of these people. Her eyes quickly ran up and down from the tray, careful not to spill a drop as she approached the nearest tent, carefully sliding in past the entrance with an unsure breath.

"E-Excuse me, Revali," she spoke up unsurely as she entered, "I brought some fresh water, some octorok milk, and if you wanted to try some toasted carp tips, they're quite the tasty snack!"

Proudly declaring her people's cuisine, her expression dropped quickly as she noticed Revali's frozen stance. Turned away from her with the curtains drawn, he remained ever stoic with his arms crossed, peering out over the platform's railing with an intensity in his glare that Mipha could feel teeming through the air despite being unable to see his face.

"Are you okay?" she wondered quietly, sliding the tray of food from her arm onto a nearby table that had been set up, "I can bring some more quilts? I know the waters make it cold and-"

The solemn shake of his head, so uncharacteristically uncertain of him, caught her off guard, "-and, uh- I-"

"It's nothing," he finally spoke up, turning his head over his shoulder with a pensive glance in his eyes, "What's that? Vittles?"

Mipha looked down at her tray, "Actually, it just a few offerings of snacks."

Frowning at her reply, Revali groaned with a fierce expression, though he slowly plotted over toward the table with interest, "I suppose I could try my hand at some. I do not often debase myself to rations outside of regular meal times, but I suppose if you're offering your good graces, I have little choice."

He raised a hand, fingers wiggling uncertainly as he looked over the food as if waiting for something, leaving Mipha with a start, "O-Oh! Um, well, there's those toasted carp tips. Octarok pâté, ocean's caviar, some-"

"_Ocean's_ caviar?" Revali wondered aloud with disgusted intrigue.

Mipha nodded with a proud smile, "Well, we Zora live amongst the rivers, mostly. It's simply a traditional way of denoting that we're not eating our _own_ eggs, I suppose."

"That _would_ be a problem," Revali reasoned, bringing his hand to his chin, his disgust waning, "Such things should only be left to frightful Rito campfire stories."

With a look of concern, Mipha quickly smiled as Revali reached down for a bite to eat, his interesting now seemingly piqued by the discussion, as he took one of the slices of bread smothered with the black pile of tiny fish eggs, "Don't let the others know I ate a product of the earth, Zora."

"But," Mipha replied with quick wit, "If the Rito are the only beings with mastery of the sky, wouldn't everything else be a product of the earth?"

Once more, his ego was stoked by compliment amidst something possibly of an insult, leaving Revali temporarily frozen in thought. Still, he managed to simply finish the small portion in one bite, shaking his head as he wiped the crumbs from his beak.

"Your wit is a pleasant reprieve from the daily dronings-on from the others," Revali answered, "Still- Don't mention it."

Mipha smiled sincerely, "I won't. Would you like another?"

Eyeing the tray with critical eyes, Revali slowly began reaching out for another bite, "…I suppose I might. so long as it's being offered."

"There's plenty to being a good host," Mipha assured with a friendly smile, "And just as plenty when it comes to being a good guest! Have as much as you would like! Please!"

The Rito took a bite, his eyes noticeably avoiding Mipha as he did so, finally turning his head away as he chewed, though his frown remained tell-tale while doing so. Mipha's head fell as she noticed, genuinely concerned of what might have been weighing upon his heart. Despite his brusque nature, she was certain that he, indeed, had one; perhaps rough-edged and calcified beneath years of distrust, but a heart nonetheless.

"Thank you," she muttered quietly, almost in a whisper, concealing a smile.

Seeming to have prodded Revali back to life, he quickly whipped his neck around to face her, "F-For what?!"

Mipha giggled at his sudden feistiness, "I don't think I ever officially thanked you for taking the time to find some gekari gel, in Gerudo Desert of all places, simply to repay me."

"Tch," Revali nearly visibly twitched in surprise, turning his entire body away, "It was no grand gesture, I assure you! Nothing worthy of thanks, of course! I was simply doing as everybody should when offered something of such value!"

He huffed as though to wholly demonstrate his feigned irritation, though Mipha simply replied, "I mean, perhaps not, but- The only person I knew amongst this group was Link, so I suppose when you don't know somebody, it's difficult to expect such things. Your kindness just means something to me, that's all."

"Pah," Revali scoffed once more, stepping back toward the edge of the platform, staring off into the sky, "As I said, it was no big thing. I can assure you, it was not due to any kindness on my part. T'was merely the proper gesture to repay another."

A half-hearted smile crept across Mipha's face, certainly that she'd inadvertently witnessed something of a childish heart behind those now-ruffled feathers. She decided it best to leave it at that, hoping to not leave Revali any more disarmed than he might have been at that moment.

"Well, if you'd like, I'll leave the caviar here for you," smiled Mipha as she removed the saucer from the tray, "I'll leave you to-"

"Kindness-"

Mipha's heart tugged at the word as she turned up toward Revali, noticing the unmistakable movement of his head as it trailed up from toward the sky down toward the Domain itself. In a single word, he had managed to surrender all bravado, almost as if relinquishing something of a barrier as his words left him weak.

"There's a language to kindness," Revali muttered quietly, "One I was never afforded much command over."

A pang at Mipha's heart.

"So don't presume me eloquent in such ways," Revali warned, almost as if failing to reclaim the power so often present behind his words.

Mipha watched the hind portion of his shoulders as they quivered, only for a moment, before returning her attention to the tray and removing it from the table with a sincere, solemn smile. She gave him a final glance before offering on her way out.

"We all pick up _some_ things. whether or not we notice."

Revali continued his watch as Mipha gave one final glance in his direction, her brow furrowing hopefully before she slid out from beneath the tapestry, leaving the Rito alone once again, save for her offering of snacks upon his table. Longingly so, Revali's eyes narrowed as he kept silent watch over the bottom-most platform of the Domain, his eagle eyes concentrating fiercely upon the scene before him, watching as a cacophony of Zora children lay, huddled, in one of the pools there, napping through the night as a collection of elders kept watch over them.

His brow fell slightly at the show of parental warmth. Even as he gradually succumbed to something of a yearning, a guilt came over him. Guilt that, by now, the very thing he might have longed for was so far removed from his life. Even if he were to make up for such a thing, his childhood forever remained an unmoving memory; one he never could escape from.

Entranced in his thoughts, Revali remained there, arms crossed.

* * *

Mipha carefully returned the tapestry to the sleek ground of the platform, pausing for a moment to smile before turning her attention to the next tent that sat along the outer ring of the space where she stood. She began her diligent march nearby, though her head perked up at the unmistakable sound of a ruckus coming from within, her feet moving quicker as worry settled in.

Heart racing, she suddenly slid to a halt as a growl emerged unmistakably from Daruk, breaking the air with a furious zeal, "Bwah! Best of seven, then!"

Mipha suddenly recalled the wager involved in these two's arrangement, though that did little to repel her worry as a sudden, raucous _SMASH_ broke past the Zora's ear, her eyes widening in shock at how out of hand a mere are wrestling match had become. With haste, she burst toward the curtained tapestry, breaking into their room only to grind to an immediate halt, nearly sending the tray of goodies flying as her eyes took in the macabre scene before her.

With gritted teeth, Daruk slammed a small boulder atop the table between himself and Urbosa, matching a second rock opposite it. He assumed the tradition position for an arm wrestle, though it became clear enough that the two had heightened the challenge, for the two rocks also stood in opposition in their goal of slamming the other's hand into the table.

"Two to three!" Daruk challenged angrily, only stoked further by Urbosa's wry smile as she massaged the back of her right hand.

She flashed him a pair of sinister eyes, "I have a feeling you'll be adjusting our series to nine by the end of this next bout."

"Hush and submit your fate to the power of the Gorons! Eons of stone course through my arm!"

"No wonder it seems erosion has settled in," Urbosa chuckled in her gamesmanship, earning a furious gaze from Daruk as the two took one another's hand, "I'm of the sands, Goron; I know all about how to turn stone to dust."

"BWAH!" Daruk shouted heartily, throwing his power into Urbosa's hand as it slowly descended toward the craggy rock atop the table.

The Gerudo's other hand tugged at the table, her breath stopping as she willed herself to refuse Daruk's power. Her eyes narrowed into fierce, cat-like slits, her face broke back into a sweat as veins popped at her forehead. Yet, as her arm shook in forceful determination, her body quivering in deepening effort, a grin remained on her face. She enjoyed such demonstrations.

"GWAR!" Daruk roared in indiscriminate rage.

Urbosa relished in it.

With the suddenness of a coiled serpent, Urbosa suddenly summoned some unknown power within her very soul, forcing her arm back the way Daruk had come, her smirk evaporating into lips so pursed that the skin surrounding them broke into uncaged lines, her breath huffing forcefully through her nose.

Daruk's will refused to give in, and as Urbosa challenged the midsection of their duel, her advance came to an abrupt halt, remaining still as the Gerudo's eyes winced in pain, finally succumbing with a cracked SMASH from the small boulder beneath her hand as Daruk slammed in down into the table swiftly enough.

"Damn!" she shouted angrily, massage g her hand as Daruk jumped to his feet, throwing his arms into the air triumphantly, "Yeah, yeah. Big show from a being who experiences no exhaustion."

Grinning proudly, Daruk dropped his arms with a modest reply, "Only our spirits, I assure you."

Reaching over to give a congratulatory pat atop her shoulder, Daruk noted friendly enough, "As far as adversaries go, you've threatened to exhaust my soul like no other."

"I don't need your condolences," Urbosa seethed before smirking mischievously, "I only need revenge."

Daruk slammed his fists together as he turned toward a tiny pile of rocks they must have gone scavenging for, grabbing hold of one before smacking it where the previous stone had crumbled nearly into dust.

"I can assure you no such thing," Daruk challenged with a crooked smile.

Before they could continue with their boorish ritual, Mipha had slipped away, hoping not to disturb their bonding time, which seemed far more liable to achieve the opposite effect in any case. Still, having left a pitcher of water for Urbosa, she decided to check the next tent, hoping to find better, or perhaps more refined, company with the princess, Zelda. Unfortunately, as she pulled away the curtain, she found no such thing behind the ornate tapestry, Mipha's brow furrowed in confusion.

Groaning with dismay, her hosting abilities proving rather futile so far, she thought how preemptively she must've known these people would be nothing but beyond the pale, so far as her social standards went. How foolish was it to expect these Champions to simply sit in place and await sustenance? Still, these inferences allowed Mipha an idea of where Zelda might have been, her eyes scanning the lower levels of the Domain for any sign of warm-blooded existence.

* * *

"Whoa!" Zelda cried out with elation, still zooming up and down the double-walls of shelves that made up the meager library that the Zora had managed to comprise in their history, leaving the Hylian princess utterly in shock by it's very existence.

Claiming another tome from its pristine shelf, Zeldahquickly returned to a desk she had procured, excitedly speaking up to Mipha while her eyes remained glued to the thick textbook, "Just look at it! Such beautiful condition, too!"

Throwing open its cover, Zelda took in its opening pages with reckless abandon, her finger making scant crossing motions as she tracked down any authorial claim to the thick book, "You wouldn't believe- Some of these texts have been lost for years in the Kingdom. The only way we've known about them are because of _other_ ancient writers citing their work. How did your people come into possession of these?!"

"I'm not certain," Mipha opined quietly, "They've probably been down here forever. My ancestors were never ones to lay claim to history though, nor were they ever privy to losing such things to time itself. Even my instructor, Muzu, wouldn't ever order these Hylian texts destroyed."

Nodding excitedly, Zelda continued, "Good! Look, here's a book by Ekasziki, 'The Histories'. It was cited by Zabon Rah, then by Tanmi, and finally, Repeash, whose tome we have in the Castle library."

"How do you remember all that?" Mipha inquired increasing astonishment.

Smirking as she whipped through the time-worn pages, Zelda assured, "I was forced to sit in our libraries and study. for years."

Her motions slowing, her smile gradually waned into one of regretful realization, "So many authors were much like friends to me. They were all I had for a time after my mother died."

Mipha's eyes fell in respect as Zelda returned her attention to the book, her energy still subsided as she recited, "'Labrynna'. In this history, Ekasziki mentions a man who vanished to return a man of delusions, speaking of worlds he had been transported to, telling fantastic tales. Of course, nobody believed him, but a few joined him in something of a cult. 'Sziki, a layman himself, takes a sympathetic bias toward him and others, but Zabon Rah, who first cited his work, wrote a counter-history refuting much of 'Sziki's account, but Zabon is known, now, more as a rumor-monger, whose status as a member of royalty at the time heavily influenced his own accounts."

Zelda eyed Mipha cheekily, "History is just as messy as our own times, it seems."

"I'm just shocked you can keep your head on straight," Mipha muttered with intrigue, taking a seat across from Zelda before allowing her wiry fingers to prod through a book of her own.

Zelda quietly elaborated, "There's just so much in these books. So many people written about and discounted as crazy people, but- Especially now, with how fluid destiny seems to be…"

Her lips pursed curiously, "Just how many of them were _right_..? Any number of them could've truly been Heroes…"

Mipha's brow raised with interest as her eyes jumped up toward Zelda, her guttural chuckle catching the Zora's attention as she quietly allowed, "The thought always comforted me back then."

She slowly shut the book, her tone raising in spirit as she went on, "My father kept me in the libraries so that I might discover that magic which is supposed to be about a Princess of Hyrule. I thought him to be mean at first, but- I think he was just scared. With my mother gone, he couldn't trust himself to properly raise me, so- Maybe the librarians, the teachers, could do a better job until I come into my own."

"As it became more and more apparent that I was without those powers," Zelda went on, her eyes dropping sadly in time with her shoulders, "I thought more of these histories. and all those people written off as crazy- as _incorrect_ in their assertions of being greater. Was I just the same? Just an insane girl with delusions of my own that I might one day be something greater?"

Mipha watched with curled eyes, sadly taking in her fellow Princess' worries before Zelda suddenly perked up, smiling something of a bright grin before pulling another tome over toward her, "But- That's all in the past."

Reaching deliberately for another book, Zelda avoided what was sure to be a skeptical glance from Mipha, choosing to avoid any further conversation on the subject, "Look! This is actually from only a handful of generations ago. Dr. Burro was a Hylian anthropologist who specialized in everything non-Hylian; this book was about his attempts at studying the bokoblins of the world. As barbaric as they seem, he discovered a rather intricate language amongst them, dialects, and even grudges between tribes."

"And here!" she went on, sliding another text toward herself, "Izu Imoth's journey into the darkest underwater caverns! He found the stone statue of a man encased in solid rock with what appeared to be the knife-holder in his forehead, from a race of ancient mega-beings!"

Her eyes flashed upward just long enough to find Mipha's deep eyes watching her with a woeful yearning, forcing Zelda to sigh as she slumped forward, "Look, I know what you're going to say, and-"

"I don't think you're insane."

Zelda held her breath for a moment, blinking in vapid wonderment, "That…wasn't what I thought."

Mipha smiled, "I don't think you're worth any less simply because you've yet to find whatever meaning you hope to attain for yourself. I know these books record so very little of the true world around us; it's a shame that your kindness, your feistiness, your benevolence isn't worth recording in a book. because, to me, it means so very much. Even if you're destined to end up in a tale about a girl who merely babbled on about how she was supposed to have magical abilities."

Holding back a half-hearted giggle, Zelda shrugged, "Well, that does mean a lot to me. Thanks."

Zelda's eyes fluttered skeptically back toward Mipha with a wry tinge to her voice, "…you aren't just saying that for the histories _I'll_ be writing about this venture, are you?"

Picking up quite readily on the joke, Mipha retorted playfully, "I suppose we'll never know. It's not as if _I'll_ be writing my own to refute your-"

Her eyes suck deep into her scaled face, watching Zelda's reaction with terror as panic set in, "I- I- I mean-!"

"It's okay," Zelda assured with a gentle giggle, reaching over to pat the back of Mipha's hand, "I know already. You can't read Hylian."

So lost in her panic, Mipha hadn't recalled as she stammered, "H- How?!"

"_Dayn Whoma_? What, is that the shrine for itty bitty silly weenies?" Zelda teased with a laugh, shaking her head, "I did what I could to subtly teach you and it actually seemed to catch on somehow."

Bowing her head to hide whatever embarrassment might emerge upon her face, Mipha quietly muttered, "Um, I mean- Link has been helping me as well…"

"_Ahhh_," Zelda coyly murmured with a flinty, immature tone, "I'm sure those study sessions were _quite_ fruitful, huh?"

Mipha nodded easily, "Y- Yes! I've gotten most of the alphabet down, actually! and I can make out a few things without having to backward-transpose it through Zora tongue first! See?!"

Zelda watched, confused at her inuendo having had no effect, while Mipha threw her arm aside as she yanked at a loose sheet of paper and slammed it before her in a nervous haste, jumping to her feet, "I need ink! Where's an octorok?!"

"Mipha!" Zelda cried out, quickly rising and throwing her arms toward Mipha's shoulders before gently pulled her back down with a nervous smile, "Please, just- just sit down, okay? You have nothing to prove to me."

"A- As it were," Mipha asserted oddly enough, clearing her throat as she allowed her blood to still, "I'm happy to prove that Link is rather tremendous as a teacher."

Recognizing herself in such a flusterous flurry, Zelda allowed a bright smirk upon her face. Though, where her love was in books and science, Mipha's passions seemed, indeed, to lie elsewhere. She watched as Mipha kept her eyes plastered upon anything other than the table, severely embarrassed by her actions, though Zelda simply giggled to herself in the hopes of lightening the tension, turning toward one of her books.

"Well, so long as it's all still atop the waters," Zelda introduced with a smile, licking at a finger before flipping through a page, "Rombeash tells of the earliest known account of inter-racial relationships amongst the various peoples of-"

"Zelda!" Mipha cried out, though was hushed by a wiggling finger from her counterpart.

"Hey!" Zelda insisted, "Maybe you'll get some ideas!"

While not even possible, Mipha was certain she had something akin to a blush staining her face.

* * *

The cold air bit at Link's skin as he took the hem of his shirt into his hands, slowly pulling the coarse material up and over his shoulders as he stared down at the open journal atop his bed, examining where he had left off and allowing his mind to form continuous thoughts as his shirt covered his eyes, his attention only momentarily stunted until the garment came off, his arms falling to his sides as he returned to his own handwriting. His eyes narrowed in critique before he knelt down toward his backpack, slipping out from it different shirt while shoving the one from the day's events back inside, a subtle, numbing pain roiling around inside his shoulder as he stood back up, forcing a hand to reach beyond his neck as a pained groan escaped him.

"Gah," he whispered with a wincing face, thinking back to his falling to his back up near the reservoir, shutting his eyes to focus as he tried massaging the tender skin he found beyond his shoulder.

Almost as of his nonexistent vision had heightened his other senses, Link's hair stood on end as he slowly turned his head over his shoulder, feeling the sensation of someone's vision upon him crawling up his back, though as his guard immediately went up, it just as quickly subsided as he only found the prodding gaze of Mipha poking through a tiny slit in the tapestry, causing a sigh of relief from him as he dropped his head toward his chest in defeat.

"Is voyeurism commonplace amongst the Zora?" he questioned with a teasing grin.

Slipping through the curtains, Mipha did her best to hide a playful smirk, "Not exactly, no."

Link shook his head as he pulled his pajama shirt over his head to hide his torso from her vision, any reply from him becoming worthless after Mipha continued herself, "I don't think anybody could help watching somebody they're attracted to."

Smirking with a stoked pride, Link turned his over his shoulder with a smarmy glance as he buttoned up his shirt, "Oh, really? And here I thought all those pervy Hylians were in the wrong in sneaking around these cliffs."

"I'd like to think mine is a tad more pure than that," Mipha giggled, "Still, it's fascinating."

"What is?" Link wondered, turning wholly toward her as she averted her gaze with a wry sort of grin.

She shrugged, "I only ever see Zora men mostly nude without a second thought. I see your bare skin, and- It's rather captivating."

"Perhaps it's simply what's been unseen," Link surmised, falling onto his cot before rummaging through his rucksack, "If those Hylian guys had been so familiar with the view of Zora women, I doubt they'd be so enamored."

This wasn't what Mipha had wanted to hear, her eyes giving a questioning glance as she wondered, "Are you not enamored by me, then?"

Only a chuckle answered her as Link turned up his head toward her with a smile, "I am. Infinitely so."

Her eyes widened in response to his bravado.

"But I'm also so very enamored by your spirit, by your grace. Those things unseen," Link assured with a smile before returning to his pack.

Mipha's quickly escaped from his direction, hoping to quell her beating heart as she stammered in further accusation, somewhat hoping to break free from the spell Link's boyish words had cast upon her, "Sh- Should you not be with your Princess down in the library?!"

Finishing up and latching his backpack shut, Link explained, "Behind the Zoran Guard, my involvement would go beyond mere insult and toward utter uselessness. Besides, as a Champion, I'm more inclined toward Zelda's direction than the King's."

"And, uh- What was her direction?" Mipha wondered with a shudder.

Link only shrugged, "She said to make sure I stayed here tonight. She made it sound as though I would follow her otherwise, but I thought there was something in her voice that gave away some other motive."

He watched Mipha's eyes widen slightly in realization, though he must have misinterpreted her expression, choosing to elaborate, "I don't know; something about her near-constant blushing and her inability to retain eye contact gave something away."

Brushing the wrinkles free from his ill-fitting pajamas, Link simply admitted, "I won't worry to much about it though. It's strange, letting my guard down, but- I _will_ say, it's kind of nice to be freed of such responsibility, if only for a moment. Besides-"

He raised his arms in presentation, "Drink it in; I doubt you'll see me in such ragged garb too often."

Smiling, Mipha nodded in appraisal, "They're not _that_ bad."

"I feel as though I'm liable to trip, they're so loose," Link complained, waving his arm as the fabric flowed freely along in time with his movements, "All the most surface area for threats to take advantage of, as well."

Rather charmed by Link's never-ending consideration of such things, Mipha raised a hand to hide a giggle, her lowered head catching Link's attention, "What?"

"You're rather cute," she admitted.

"_Cute_," Link repeated in a far more drab tone, "I'm not sure many men would choose _that_ specific designation."

Mipha smirked, "Perhaps not, but it's certainly what you are at this moment in time."

"_Uh huh_," Link sarcastically agreed in a droll reply, "Remind me, then, to be other things. _Smoldering_, perhaps."

He scrunched his face forward, his lips pursed while his eyes form forceful slits that singed the very air between the two of them, finally drawing an audible kiss from his breath as his head jolted up in a sultry nod. Such a forceful attempt forced a sudden laugh from Mipha as she covered her face with both hands, her head shaking back and forth in forceful disapproval.

"No! No!" Mipha managed through laughs, severely addled by such an odd display.

For his part, Link simply grinned at his attempt at humor having succeeded, rolling his eyes, "Goddess, our humor hasn't much aged."

He scratched the back of his head as he turned toward the open journal atop his cot, slowly reaching down to retrieve it before Mipha scurried over, stealing the book away before retreating amidst Link's serious stare.

"Gotcha!" Mipha proclaimed playfully.

Link's shoulders dropped before she could explain, "Maybe our trickery hasn't aged, either!"

"Uh huh," Link nodded with monotony before reaching out a hand, "I'm gonna need you not to open that."

Mipha grinned, "Why? Are you cute in here as well?"

"Pah!" Link scoffed, a wry grin crossing his face as he crossed his arms, "As if you'd be able to tell."

With a new sense of determination, Mipha's brow narrowed as she turned her attention to the tome in her hands, quickly opening it to find endless scribbles within its pages. It was certainly Hylian script, and while she could recognize letterings and symbols, and only a few choice words, it was all but foreign to her. Still, she put on a brave face, hoping to make Link sweat a moment in teasing despair, although her façade vanished as a soft giggle escaped her as she scanned the pages.

A moment ago so confident, Link's face suddenly softened in realization as she questioned in a hurry, "W-What did you make out?!"

Mipha smiled as she turned the open book toward Link, pointing out a single word, "I know that's your name."

A wave of relief crossed Link as he sighed, dropping his head uselessly before Mipha returned to the journal, seemingly entranced by the prospect of simply hunting down Link's name amidst the jungle of language that was so foreign to her. Link's eyes arose to catch her doing so, his feet slowly taking him toward her.

"_Now_ who's being cute?" he wondered rhetorically as Mipha's eye flashed overtop the book.

She cocked her head to the side, "_I_ don't mind it, though."

Her eyes jumped up once more to find Link within arm's reach, her teasing coming to a halt as he reached over to gently take hold of her arm where his journal had been resting upon, his voice escaping as a shaky echo, "_I_ mind it."

Half swayed by his deepened tone, half unsure as to what it was he meant, Mipha's eyes locked onto his with a shivering uncertainty coursing through the slits between her scales, especially as his grasp pulled her closer into his arms. Her shuddering was left with little in the way of a payoff, however, as Link simply took the opportunity to seize his journal from her, shaking his head as he released his hand from her.

"Thank you," was all he left her with as he smiled, playing innocent at what he knew he had done to her heart.

Mipha regained her faculties just enough as Link turned away, speaking quickly before he could pack up his journal, "Just one page."

Link's eyes appeared over his shoulder as he chuckled, "_Maybe_, and that's a _big_ maybe, one day when you're ready to read it."

A scrupulous glance met him as Mipha retorted, "Are you certain it's not when _you're_ ready?"

"I will concede that point, only because you're the only one in here," Link acknowledged, "Before you, this journal was the only way to let my guard down, if only in writing. It's not me writing about how the birds seem to be flying north on any given day; you know, it's-"

He shrugged before kneeling down to bury it within his rucksack, "It's just one of those things."

Mipha watched him with concern, though as Link stood, he gave a deep sigh to disarm any skepticism that such a topic might be more disarming than any other, leaving her to simply watch his eyes as they returned to her.

"I, uh-" Mipha suddenly began, hoping to relieve some of the dreary tension in the air, before motioning toward the nearby tray she'd sat down, "Brought some snacks if you'd like."

Link's eyes brightened in surprise, "Oh? Well, I'm stuck here for the evening, so in lieu of dinner, I will be sure to indulge."

Mipha's eyes fell in embarrassment as she quietly revealed, "Well, that- I think-"

"Hmm?" Link hummed in reply, curious at to her sudden silence, though she quickly turned the subject around as she shook her head.

"N-Nevermind," she finished.

Link eyed her skeptically, though figured to leave her to her own devices as he nodded softly, "Alright. Hey, did you make all these?"

"Oh, no," she answered with a start, examining the collection of tiny Zora delicacies, "Well, actually, the carp sushi I cook- Or rather, I prepared. I couldn't cook if a rolling pin smacked my upside the head, so- I wanted to be a good host, though."

Link listened with interest before taking a piece of the uncooked carp, rudimentarily rolled up along with various vegetables within a wrap of seaweed, and carefully taking a bite of it, much to Mipha's horror. She recoiled, terrified of Link's distaste for anything her inept hands might bring to his pallet, compared to his own talents for cooking, but Link simply nodded with contentedness, assuring Mipha easily enough.

"Pretty good," he smiled slightly, allowing him to finish the piece in his hand.

Mipha's eyes immediately lit up as she beamed, more that he was willing to take a second bite than his compliment, though she still ejected with excitement, "Really?!"

"Did you choose the ingredients?" Link wondered curiously.

Proudly, still radiant with happiness, Mipha declared, "Yes! I remembered something of a recipe, so I tried my best to replicate it!"

"Well, your layering was great; I got a taste of everything in each bite," Link acknowledged simply, "Awesome job."

Her eyes shut, cheeks drawn behind her smile, Mipha glowed with a sort of brilliance that might accompany a great, accomplished host, or perhaps somebody whose lover had just found great joy in something of their doing. Perhaps a mixture of the two, though the compliments coming from Link certainly didn't prevent Mipha's reaction, even as he gave her a critiquing glance.

"Now who's _really_ cute?" he wondered with a grin.

A giggle escaped her as Mipha's mind flew atwirl, though she gave a sudden start as she felt Link's hand brush her shoulder, her eyes widening as he brought a finger to the grandiose necklace adorning her scales. She turned her head to watch him run his thumb along the jewels there, as if piecing them together, attempting to find a place upon her skin where he might leave their brilliance among her very scales.

"Now who's beautiful," Link offered with a soft smile, earning him a warm, nervous-tinged grin from Mipha in reply, "I wasn't even old enough to know what attraction was, yet- I knew you were beautiful. even before you wore these."

Mipha resisted the urge to turn her eyes away, keeping them solely upon the man before her. Her nerves, her emotions, her very soul she was prepared to surrender to his bidding, as if she were prepared for his eyes to simply cause her body to shiver.

"They're, uh-" Mipha stammered in reply, "My people have always figured royalty needed something to adorn our scales. Something like ornamental scales, I suppose. You can't find these cuts of jewels anywhere but on a Zora; that's why we got as far as we did at the reservoir."

Her voice trembled, "They very much mean that I'm one of the Zora. That I belong to my people."

Link's eyes jumped from her necklace to her eyes, "What if you were to belong to me? What then?"

Left with a breathless echo as the only voice she had, Mipha's legs shook in dumbfounded fluttering that radiated from her heart. Link's hand was like a torch upon her skin as he clutched her shoulder, both their breaths shaking as the space between them danced in coalescing steam between their mouths.

"I- I-" Mipha finally broke though, but to no avail, her stammering going on, "I-"

"You wouldn't need to wear these gems," Link surmised, his own weakening breaths growing ever more apparent, "The only thing you need upon your scales-"

He tugged at her necklace ever so lightly.

"-are my lips."

Mipha's eyes shook even as they focused indelibly on his, "You say that, but- Link, have you any clue how long we would have to keep this a secret? I'll be forever expected to-"

"Let it be secret then," he answered, "Let me be the only one who knows how the thought of us together leaves your heart alight. Let me know that your thoughts-"

He quickly tilted his head up to kiss the crest of her forehead, "I'll leave my kisses upon you. traced in between your scales where they'll remain until you need them."

Mipha grinned at the thought, finally turning her head, "I'm not certain how secret it is, even now."

With a start, Link's brow fell forward in confusion, "What do you mean?"

"I mean, that we're sharing this room together was Zelda's doing to begin with," answered Mipha innocently enough.

Link sighed, dropping his head with relief, "Goddess, I thought you were going to say Urbosa…"

"I think you'd have already known had that been true," Mipha giggled, "I believe Zelda understands. It's safe with her. I don't think we need to be a distraction even for the Champions."

Link nodded, "I believe you're right, but- I don't know. I was serious when I said I minded how cute you are."

Mipha's head fell to the side in confusion.

"Seeing you every day. It makes it difficult not to simply pick you up and take you off to some far-off place," Link spoke with a timid smile.

Such affection had largely been absent from Mipha, causing a swell at her heart. Instead of retreating in a nervous dash, however, she merely pushed her head toward Link's chest, wrapping her arms around him as she nuzzled ever closer against him, losing herself in his warmth while his arms reciprocated the motion, instead pulling her closer so that he could rest his head atop her own.

"I can't wait," Mipha admitted, releasing her face from his chest only to force her words unmuffled before returning to him.

Link chuckled, rustling her torso as he did so, before taking another kiss from her scalp, his brow furrowing in thought before taking another kiss, this time with his lips lingering only slightly. Another kiss followed as Mipha's expression drew crooked before she escaped his chest, wondering aloud with sincere confusion.

"Uh, Link? Is there a reason your chest is growing warmer?" she wondered curiously, "Are you okay?"

Nodding, Link allowed, "Yeah. I just suspected as much."

Doing little to alleviate her confusion, Mipha pulled away to find Link's face just above her, "…suspected what?"

"Nothing," Link chuckled with a hint of boyish nerves, "It's just- You should cook more. It was rather lovely, finding the taste of your skin on your food."

With a massive, blood-curdling shiver, Mipha's eyes blew wide open in a self-conscious mess of emotions before something from the most primal recesses of her mind tore beyond her tongue, "_SQUEE_-!"

Before her squeak could finish, Mipha buried her face into Link's chest, clutching desperately at his shirt to pull it around her head in a vain effort to conceal herself, though such an act only brought more endearment the way of Link as he carefully remained on his feet despite her tugging. There they stood for a moment as her heart calmed.

"Cute," Link reminded as he stroked her dorsal fin, gently pulling it along the curves at the back of her head.


	28. Doubts From Chaos

**_A/N: So a bit of a retcon: when I originally began this part of the story, I literally made up Dolare as an antagonist out of thin air, giving him the personality he had a few chapters ago when introduced in a flash-forward. Since then, however, his character, story, and motivations have expanded so dramatically in my head from anything I could have possibly envisioned at the time (enough so that I'm quite interested in an entire backstory-story about him), so unless I can create reason for him to act how he does in this part's prologue, I might simply call it a retcon and move on with a far more interesting character. _**

**_Don't worry; this is still the Champions' story, so I won't bog anything down with Dolare content beyond what's needed, but hopefully by the end of this section of the story, you'll be pining for a whole lot more when it comes to him, which is a goal I hope to achieve with any OC that I create :)_**

**_Enjoy goofball-Daruk :p_**

* * *

"BWAH HA!" Daruk churned with a vigorous roar as his hands flew up into the air, sending the gaggle of Zora children before him skittering away in sudden terror, though their screams were near-immediately curtailed by giggles and laughter as Daruk's chest rumbled with his own chortles, "And then, after turning over the entire mountaintop, I gave a massive-!"

He threw his fist toward the sleek ground beneath him, denoting an immense effort toward digger, "-and then I buried that beast alive! leaving it no chance to terrorize our people ever again!"

"Woooah!" came a droning sound of awe from the children, as they slowly returned to the space near Daruk, with one of them quickly asserting, "You musta been scared, Mr. Goron, sir!"

Daruk flung out a fist with a smirk, "Me? Scared?! With the heart of a champion, there _is_ no room for fear, young one! See these gray hairs?"

He tugged at his thick beard, "Such things come only from a lifetime of experience! Why, you all- eh-"

Gradually realizing as his eyes scanned the nearby guards, the lot of them now disinterested in the show Daruk was performing for the little ones, that the Zora don't have hair, he stammered quickly, "W- Well, uh- I mean, I'm sure if _you_ all live lives devoid of terror, you'll- uh- grow scales unhindered by any sort of weapon!"

"My gwampa said his life's only giv'n him a slanted spine," one of the younglings answered, much to Daruk's distress that such topics were to arise.

"Yeah!" chided another, "I barely go near the channels; if I fall in, i'ssa one-way trip to tha basin!"

Daruk crossed his arms, "Channels?"

The child pointed to toward the stream of water that flowed atop the platform itself, carried to its edge before tumbling off into the infinite depths beneath the Domain itself, "My dad c'n step through no problem, but I'm to tiny, Mr. Goron, sir!"

"Pfft, he's huge!" cried another, forcing Daruk's face to turn in revulsion, "Teacher says, the only way up a stream is the grace to- to-"

The child dropped their head in thought before another finished simply, "The grace to find the water's pathways."

Daruk slammed a fist into his open palm, grinning with bravado as a thought sprung into his head, "Bwah ha! I do believe, young ones, that there are _many_ ways to accomplish such a feat. Behold!"

The children's mouths fell open in awe as Daruk stomped toward the channel of water, smirking only to himself now as he figured out the best way to proceed. He came to the edge of the dip in the platform, just a step above the rather quick stream of water, before turning his head back toward the kids as they slowly came closer for a better look.

"Never fear! For the heart of a champion never-! Whoa! WHOA!"

As he dug a foot into the channel, his body immediately began to fall backwards, his arms flailing in panic as a rousing cry came from the children, "GAAH!" "WAAA!"

A few of them darted away, either in panic or to get help, while the others huddled together into a shivering mass of scaled bodies as their eyes widened at the scene of a Goron about to plummet to his ultimate demise. Daruk's body wavered back and forth until his other foot slammed into the channel behind him, allowing his body some sense of balance as he dramatically leaned his body forward, fighting the stream of water with a terrific grin of grandiose hubris.

"GAH!" he shouted as though such an act were requiring anything resembling effort, "I-! I think I-! I-!

With the drama of a showman, Daruk took a sudden, deliberate step up the stream, amidst a sudden whooping of hollers emanating from the children as they watched with utter disbelief. Daruk's face curled with feigned determination as yet another step came from him, then another, battling the rushing water and defeating it as he went along.

"B- BWAH!" he gave a final cry of battle before stepping out from the channel with conjured up exhaustion, grabbing his knees as he keeled over, the children rushing over to offer him aid of any sort.

One of them quickly asked, "Mr. Goron, sir! A- Are you okay?!"

Daruk offered a warmly fierce smirk, "Of course! With the heart of a champion, _nothing_ can stand in your way! Oh, and there _are_ different ways you can go about things- that, too. I'm sure when you're older, being able to navigate the waters will be easier for you all, but for a Goron such as myself, brute strength will carry me where your ways deem themselves much too- eh…"

His spirit faded as he looked up to find the children that had scurried off nearly dragging Lady Mipha by the arm as she desperately tried to simply stay upright amidst their grasp, the Goron certain that he was to be in trouble for such a demonstration. The returning children's eyes flew open at the sight of Daruk still standing, covering their mouths with shock as Mipha cleared her throat.

"Um, Daruk?" she asked timidly, "Are you trying to…throw yourself into the basin..?"

His lips flew wide into a smile as he dug his fists into his hips, laughing magnificently, "HA HA! Of course not! I was merely giving these young ones a lesson in the power of determination!"

"I- uh- figured it wasn't what they had said, but," Mipha replied, almost embarrassed that she'd been called for such a thing, "If you don't mind not frightening them…"

Daruk gave a quick nod, "Absolutely! My apologies for causing you any trouble, Mi- erm, _Lady_ Mipha."

A few of the children gasped as Daruk's misstep, though it was more that he knew her on such a basis as to use her name without the title than anything else. Still, they came to attention as Mipha clapped her hands together, the lot of them rushing to turn toward her.

"I do believe Teacher Olutoh was looking for her students, however," Mipha directed with a low tone, earning a chorus of disappointed jeers from the children, some of whom even latched onto Daruk to prevent their departure before a sudden scowl from a nearby guard forced the lot of them to slowly gather up before sauntering off, though not without Daruk's sending off, patting which ones he could as they left.

Mipha frowned regretfully, "I'm sorry to have ruined the, uh, festivities."

"Pah, it was no problem at all," Daruk assured, "Little things stumbled upon me with such wide eyes; I supposed they had sought out stories for me to regale to them with my tremendous charm!"

Smiling with subdued delight, Mipha agreed, "I'm sure that was the case. Do you require anything before I go see my father?"

"I wouldn't want to impose any more than we already are," Daruk answered with a swift fist to his chest, "I'll be moseying around, enjoying the scenery, until we hear back."

Mipha nodded with agreement before offering a goodbye and strolling off with a uncharacteristically regal gait, presumably due to the setting, leaving Daruk to reach up toward the sky and stretch out his back, his voice eking out in relief as he did so. His arms fell to his sides before turning to wander off to do more exploring, though his brow quickly rose in piqued interest as his eyes noticed Zelda standing nearby, a cumbersome book tucked in her arms as she watched with an amused grin the suddenly nervous Goron.

"Hey, uh-" Daruk stammered as he scratched the back of his head, hurriedly averting his gaze.

"Hello," Zelda greeting with the slightest hint of a giggle hiding behind the word.

Daruk bit his lip, "…how much of all that did you see..?"

"Enough," Zelda offered with a smarmy sort of grin, "I didn't know you were that much of a showman."

Shrugging, Daruk explained lightheartedly, "Well, I mean- Kids are just great to entertain. Gorons don't age, and we start out with some semblance of maturity, so it's always nice to see beings who are young enough to be fooled, or more importantly, taught."

Nodding in agreement, Zelda smiled once more, "Very true, _Mr. Goron, sir_."

"Ugh," Daruk groaned as he reached up to massage his face in exasperation, "Where are you off to?"

Zelda turned toward one of the parallel platforms, motioning her head in direction, "Link is over there with some of the petty soldiers, so I figured I'd get out of the library, or rather, the _shelves_, and do some researching out in whatever sun I might find out here. Would you like to join me?"

"Sure!" Daruk happily exclaimed as he joined her side, the two strolling around the edge of the platform to cross over onto the next, "Perhaps I could even be of some assistance."

Zelda grinned, "I don't think they'll have much issue stepping through tiny streams of water though."

Daruk gave her a sidelong glance, "I can assure you, Princess Zelda, that my abilities extend beyond my acting prowess."

He caught a distasteful frown from her as he quickly retaliated, "That is, simply, _Zelda_. Sorry; my mind is quite in a tizzy here between you and- Lady Mipha."

"It's fine, trust me," Zelda assured easily, "I've just gotten so used to being known for my name with you all that it was a bit of a jolt to hear that title again."

Daruk threw a fist into his chest, "It would do me a great disservice to say anything to bring you dread. I assure you, I want make the mistake again!"

"It wasn't a mistake," Zelda warmly assured, reaching up with her free hand to pat Daruk's arm, "I am _indeed_ a Princess, whether or not I like it. Sooner or later, at that, I'll have to accept it regardless. Until then, however-!"

She brought up the massive textbook, "I can study with reckless abandon! This tome is a study of one of the earliest Rito writers, written by the ancient Zoran Papir as he attempted to translate its language, which he didn't get very far."

Daruk wondered quizzically, "Does that mean you're going to finish it?"

"Actually, no. Papir started, then it was continued by Vorom, then by Zareem, then Ijor, then-"

Daruk gave a nervous laugh that concealed the deeping concern he had about his free time, "I- I, uh, get the point."

Nodding in understanding, Zelda concluded, "It's all mostly chicken scratch, pun intended, but I still find it fascinating nonetheless; it's basically a dead language, even by the Rito. Reminds me of the Divine Beasts almost. The technology of the Sheikah- it's all essentially dead science in comparison to ancient language."

"Ah ha, I get it now," Daruk nodded with a fierce smile, "I may not be into such things, but I can promise you whatever help I may offer when it comes to- well, translating those machines."

Zelda revealed a hopeful smile, "Well, thank you, Mr. Goron, s-"

"Eh, please; no more of that…" Daruk begged with a nervous stroking of his beard, which earned a final giggle from Zelda as the two approached the adjoining platform, their attention turning toward the small group of three Zoran soldiers taking turns sparring amongst themselves with Link taking a spot within their ranks.

Daruk happily noted as he examined Link's body in profile, "Look at him! He hasn't taken a scratch!"

Readying his voice, he roared, "Now _that's_ my Brother!"

"Woo hoo!" Zelda cheered in near-unison, the two's spirited interjections causing a nervous shiver down Link's spine.

He turned toward the two, only for Daruk and Zelda's faces to fall upon noticing the front of Link's body, which had sustained a litany of wayward cuts, as well as a single bruise placed upon his forehead.

"B-Brother!" Daruk chided in worry, only for Link to shrug as he waved to the soldiers as he made his way toward the two onlookers.

Link replied, "What? These are just a few nicks; had I been more adept, I wouldn't have sustained them, so- They're putting me through my paces though; it's kind of nice to spar with people whose style I'm not familiar with."

As he finished, despite his assertion to the contrary, Daruk began examining Link's face with his bulging hands, much to Link's noticeable chagrin as Zelda inquired, "But doesn't it hurt?!"

"I mean, yeah, but that's what make you stronger," Link explained with a plain shrug before pushing Daruk's hands away, "Daruk knows this."

"Do I?!" Daruk challenged, "I was born with that resilience within rocks of igneous! I didn't have to take a _beating_!"

Link reiterated, "It's not a beating. You should see Kopo; I managed to tackle him and get a swift strike in to win the match."

Suddenly intrigued by Link's newly found successes, Daruk immediately switched shifts as he stroked his chin in interest, eyeing the group of soldiers, "Oh! Which one is Kopo?"

"Second from the right."

"Wowwie!" Daruk exclaimed, "That ain't no small fry! You've done more well than I thought!"

Link shot his Sworn Brother a smarmy sort of smirk as Zelda groaned in exasperation, rolling her head along her shoulders as she scolded lowly, "Oh brother… You two are nothing but boys on a playground."

His smirk now beaming, Link reminded, "Wait until Mipha is finished. I'm sure she'd be more than happy to scrap with us."

"_No_ thank you," Zelda forced in reply before sitting down atop the platform, opening up her large book, "I'm no barbarian. I only _read_ about them."

Link chuckled at her reply before waving for Daruk to follow along, "C'mon; they'd be happy to meet a Goron. It isn't every day you can find a man of stone around here, especially one who enjoys a good wrestle."

"Well, I can certainly see- Wrestle?" Daruk concluded with a worried tone as Link interrupted him with greeting.

"Hey guys, this is Daruk. Daruk, here's Tevi, Kopo, and you remember Tovar? This is his son, Zevan."

The three soldiers returned a greeting, though it was Zevan who beamed with excitement, stepping toward Daruk and taking his hand only to pull him into a hug, "By the Goddess! I've never come across a Goron before! It is a tremendous honor to cross paths!"

He turned to Link while Daruk continued to reel, "You certainly entertain an eclectic cast for a Royal Knight."

Link shrugged with a proud smile, "Well, Daruk and I go a ways back, actually. His strength is legendary, even amongst his own people; though, most importantly, he's rather capable of harnessing that power and is a pretty proficient fighter atop of that."

"Really?" Zevan replied with subdued elation, "Uh, _Daruk_. Of what victories can you speak of?"

His eyes rolling upward in thought, Daruk quietly began, "Hmm. Well, uh- I do suppose…"

His continued silence as he considered his answer only seemed to raise Zevan's excitement as the Zora drew his head back in wonder, "So many victories that you've difficulty even recalling them! My dear guest, I'm without words to explain how honored I am to be in your very pres-!"

"Ah!" Daruk suddenly spouted, catching Zevan's breath in anticipation, "I ensure the steam vaults are maintained at an acceptable level with a one hundred percent success rate! Such proficiency hadn't been seen since our earliest ancestors!"

Zevan was taken aback, unsure of how to politely respond, though Link simply leaned closer to his Goron Brother, speaking up quietly, "I think he meant _combat_ victories…"

"Oh! Right!" Daruk retorted, "Have you ever encountered a Hinox?"

The soldiers shook their heads with Zevan replying, "We have not, though we've heard stories of their brutality. Is it true they weave the weapons of their enemies among necklaces?"

"I'm not sure of the lot of them," Daruk began, his voice rising with pride, "Though, the one I single handedly disposed up certainly did."

Zevan's eyes grew wide, "No kidding!"

Daruk dug his fists into his hips, proudly recounting, "One of them had determined to make their way up our mountain path; a dangerous proposition indeed, as a very many travelers and merchants trust those paths to be safe. From atop the canyon walls, I maneuvered a team of Gorons who dropped boulders down beneath the Hinox's feet before I let loose a burst of gunpowder before his eyes, sending him stumbling backward, falling atop the boulders and onto his back, before I bested his flurrying punches and did him in."

He eyed one of the nearby cliffs before pointing to one, "It was about as large as that cleft, I suppose, give or take."

"Goddess," Zevan muttered breathlessly before returning to Daruk, "Goron, you must offer experience to us!"

Daruk grinned, "Well, it wasn't much beyond good ol' Goron ingenuity and- What're you doing?"

"I wish not to be hindered," Zevan confirmed as he rather quickly removed his armor, "I would like this experience to linger beneath many moons!"

Daruk's eyes widened as he whipped his neck around toward Link, grasping his arm and pulling him away with only a quick explanation, "Link. Sidebar."

Link followed, or more accurately was dragged, back away, with Daruk immediately voicing his concerns in a whisper, "What in the Goddess' name is he asking for?!"

"He's a Zora soldier," Link explained, "A rather young and zealous one, yes, but still."

Silence greeted him behind Daruk's critical eyes, the Goron waiting for a further answer before finally bridging the awkward air, "…and?! What does that have to do with anything?!"

Link sighed, "For a soldier of the Zora, their tenacity and prowess in battle is only tempered by the trials placed upon their bodies. The soldier with scars is infinitely more experience than the soldier without a scratch."

Daruk's voice grew into a tumultuous tremor, "Are you saying he wants me to _hit_ _him_?!"

"Pretty much, yes," Link explained, "From knowing what it means to take a hit from someone of your strength, he'll ultimately-"

"I'm not going to do such a thing!" Daruk charged with an impassioned plea, "W- What if I hurt him?!"

Link shrugged, "That's kind of what he's hoping for."

"Link!" Daruk whined, the two of them quickly turning their heads to Zelda, whom they'd unknowingly taken up shop just above, her clicking tongue catching them off guard.

"Tsk tsk," she scoffed, "Perhaps if we'd partaken in more _artful_ subjects…"

Daruk's body began to shake at the thought of injuring somebody, though Link took hold of his shoulders, pulling him down to his eye level, "Daruk, look. What was that you said a few nights ago? You're not merely stone."

The Goron groaned, "My father… I was nothing but rock and sand. But-!"

"_But_ nothing," Link challenged, "You're _not_ just rock and sand. You're a being capable of so much more than carelessly throwing your weight around. You're capable enough to know when your strength is necessary."

Daruk's brow curled in worry, his eyes catching Zelda as she muttered, still buried within her book, "I hate to advocate such barbarism, but Link is correct. If only to bring you more confidence, I agree with him."

"See?" Link reiterated, "Now. You're gonna work up some of that warrior spirit and go punch a man in the arm."

Daruk groaned as his head fell forward, "Fine, fine; if he truly wants me to. But I seriously doubt he's totally thought this thro-"

The two of them turned to find Zevan exhaling with determinate force, holding his arm out as Kopo and Tevi rapidly stroked their hands up and down his arm as if in preparation for the incoming strike, leaving Zevan to speak up as Link and Daruk approached, "Alright! Here we go! Through this, my very scales with be the canvas upon which the evils of this world will tremble at the very sight of!"

"Neph'fore" "Neph'fore" Tevi and Kopo reverently recited almost as if in a chanting prayer, though their tones were obviously following a droll timbre.

Zevan held out his arm for Daruk, turning his head away in preparation, "Alright then! Goron, you have my respect!"

Daruk couldn't conceal the worrisome tremble along his brow as he watched the Zora before him shivering in painful anticipation. He thought of Link's words a moment ago before allowing a deep sigh, pulling his arm back in a quivering motion.

"W-Well," he began, "I _was_ voted the most helpful pebble paddler…"

"Such a robust title!" Zevan charged, "Bring onto me the very same power that made you a paddler of pebbles!"

Link had already shut his eyes, avoiding much more of this odd charade, as Daruk finally winded up, taking a powerful step back before throwing his whole entire weight into the punch, his fist careening through the air as it made blistering contact amongst Zevan's arm, immediately sending the Zora stumbling away and falling to his knees in seething pain.

"GAH!" Zevan groaned as he bit his tongue, "GH- GAAaaaaAAAH!"

"I'm sorry!" Daruk immediately spoke, running to the Zora's side as if to help him.

Zevan immediately shook his head, "N- No… The force of that strike shall be a message, not only to my body, but to anybody who might cross it…"

He drew a hand before gently slapping Daruk's arm, "Thank you."

"Er, uh- No problem?" Daruk reasoned an answer, though remained rather curious what exactly he was replying to.

As the men awaited Zevan's recovery, Zelda's eyes, which had been hovering overtop her tome toward the group, returned to her book as an impish grin crossed her face. She had caught his over-the-top stance, no doubt pulling his punch and merely selling it as such a burst of feigned energy masked his intention.

"Quite the showman," she chuckled mutedly to herself.

Zevan rose back to his feet with a sigh of relief, shaking his head as though to clear the event from his mind, leaving Daruk to wonder aloud as he eyed the two other soldiers, "I'm not, uh-…"

"Goddess, no," Topo muttered in reply, "Zev's the one with such inane ideas. "

Worry suddenly reappearing within his voice, Daruk questioned, "What?! I thought this was some cultural ritual! Link-!"

He turned to find Link amidst a shrug, Daruk's expression growing into a scowl as he began recognizing the deception, leaving Link to answer, "Hey, you learned a lesson, didn't you?"

"What, to punch an impulsive dumbass?!" Tevi teased as he gave Zevan a playful swipe from his foot.

Zevan's glare scorched the air, "Hold you tongue; you'll be singing a different tune once I'm your commander."

"Skeletons don't have tongues, I'm afraid," Topo smirked.

Zevan prepared a swipe of his own before turning toward Daruk, "Goron, perhaps you'd better-"

He paused in realization as he caught both Link and Daruk staring off into the distance, the Hylian's eyes, specifically, turning into something of a fierce stare. Following their eyes, he caught a glimpse of the small parade of Zora bodies entering the Domain from the Great Zora Bridge, the same assortment from the day prior.

Turning toward the others, Zevan spoke up, "We'd better head over."

"Yes, sir." "Affirmative," came the replied from the other soldiers as they quickly slid across the platform up toward the King's chamber.

Link and Daruk remained behind, watching more in curiosity than anything. Though, Link knew that their presence what not one of good tidings. He caught sight of the same cloaked figure from the day before, such ornate robes hiding him wholly from sight, forcing his eyes to constrict as though in an attempt to see beyond that shroud.

Soon enough, Zelda had joined them, having taken note of the silence and risen to her feet, her voice appearing softer than normal as if to ensure not to be heard by the procession.

"Who _are_ they…" she wondered aloud.

Link took a moment to reconsidering his thoughts a final time before finally allowing his conclusion to be heard, "…trouble."

* * *

Standing atop the same platform that housed the King's Chambers, Urbosa watched curiously as the motley crew of Zora she'd recognized from yesterday came strolling up toward her in much the same manner as before. The Zora standing nearby took wary glances themselves, though Urbosa took note of a handful of them who slowly skittered forward in something of withdrawn anticipation, the Gerudo's brow turning in curiosity as she kept tabs on the approaching group.

There were six in total: besides the clocked figure themselves, there was the younger Zora man who seemed so out of place amongst the brutish assortment of ragged bodies, what with his near-unmarked scales, the two of them notably close as they were surrounded by the other four.

The largest of the group, who was easily the largest Zora Urbosa had ever seen, stood atop all the others, with his chest puffed out in muscle as if he were putting on a show, lips curled in devilish excitement, his hands held into fists as he examined only the more adept-looking of the Domain's inhabitants.

After him was a woman, whose most notable feature was that her dorsal fin had been chopped off just beyond her skull, leaving quite the unsightly pinnacle to a body so rough hewn from what was certainly a life not worthy of envy. Her eyes were dipped in endless scowl, an untrusting, almost furious energy radiating around her as she kept her hand readied at her waist, where a sword rested, hanging upside down from her shoulders.

Then strode another man, of a rather jovial sort, his small frame hopping in elation as he followed the others, though unlike all the others, he seemed to have nothing equating to weaponry. Even the largest of them had massive arms, but this one merely kept on with little more than the skeevy grin on his face, cackling in boyish excitement whenever the others elicited a gasp of shock from the Domain's inhabitants as they passed by.

Finally, the oldest of them, a Zora so taken by gravity over his lifetime that he nearly waddled with a body parallel to the ground, slowly meandered behind the rest, hobbling without a cane until the shortest of them turned to find him struggling, his comparatively spry form taking him up to the forefront of the group to catch the largest's attention. Urbosa's curiosity piqued even further as the largest one waved off the smallest, keeping their worried abated and forcing the elder's gait to remain downright sickly to watch without assistance.

Turning her head to find Zelda and the others over on an adjacent platform, nodding to signal the slight wave from the Princess, before returning her impatient attention to the group as more Zora began to collect nearby, gradually catching her interest. Arms crossed, her ear perked up to gather what she could of the growing murmuring beside her, excitement building in a slowly drifting cloud of voices.

"They said they were Niq," she managed to catch, "Perhaps that's the one!"

"In the cloak?"

"Yeah!"

"Pshaw; don't be stupid. Their numbers have been in decline; I'm sure they're simply making a show of this to keep the donations rolling in."

"But-"

"_But_ nothin'."

Urbosa turned to the two, immediately catching both of their flabbergasted glances, speaking up plainly, "Niq, you say?"

"Y-Y-Yes!" the gullible one replied as if under interrogation, "Th- They said as much yesterday!"

The Gerudo turned her head toward the massive chamber that housed the King, hoping to find Mipha, but to no avail. She then turned back to the others, hoping that she could speak to them for opinion, but reassuring herself of her one lonesomeness , Urbosa simply recalled the story that Mipha had recounted of the Niq, bewildered that this group of fiendish looking characters could be a part of such a friendly sort. Still, her vision remained fixed upon them as they approached, finally coming into earshot as they made their way up the final stairway.

"-then he dies. Now hush!" instructed the massive Zora, swiping in the direction of the tiny scaled man, "We're about to begin."

The tiniest took a swift kick at him before turning away, watching the elder Zora still hobbling his way just at the bottom of the stairway the others had already climbed, passing the only woman with gritted teeth, "Finbreath."

She shrugged in reply, her eyes fixed upon the crowd slowly forming around them with skepticism, as if preparing for any one of them to pounce. Urbosa recognized such a posture; shoulders cocked backward, head slid forward. She was almost like a caged animal, simply baring it's time before tearing free from whatever shackled its rabid temperament. Even as they came to a stop outside the King's Chamber, the crowd of Domain dwellers remained within a bubble of wary skepticism tinged with genuine intrigue.

A single Zora left the collective, stumbling toward the group while clutching its thigh, catching the attention of the largest of the crew, who quickly formed up as though he were their bouncer, though the pristine one halted him with a snapping bite of speech.

"Helor!" came a rather mellifluous shout, as if strained to such a volume, though it stopped the brute's advance.

The large being, Helor, snarled in reply, but still pulled back into formation, having adequately frightened the approaching man, now standing in place with a scared expression as he nursed his injury, though he quickly turned away from Helor to the younger Zora as he approached with a graceful extension of his hand.

"Don't be afraid," he assured with a gentle smile, "Are you in need?"

The Zora stammered, still thrown by Helor's averted rampage, "They- They say you're Niq…"

"We are," the young Zora smiled, "Why do you ask?"

His hand tightening upon his thigh, the Zora nearly began to weep as though having found something lost for ten years, "My-! I've lost my ability to swim and-!"

Quickly becoming a tearful mess, the man dropped his head into his free hand as the newcomer chuckled gently, "And you're hoping we can help."

Instead of answering, the young man embraced the injured Zora, pulling him in tight as he spoke something delicate into his ear, Urbosa's eyes wincing as she attempted to read his lips, though it grew moot as the man pulled away with a boisterous proclamation, throwing his arms toward the sky, "And it will be joyous for every one of you as well!"

Urbosa frowned. Certainly this _was_ a show, she thought to herself with a groan. That said, eyes passing once more over the chambers of the King, Urbosa knew already that there was yet something about this group that had brought the King himself to seclusion. What possibly could be beneath that shroud which so rattled the curiosity of so many Zor-

"Joyous because, simply put-!" the pristine Niq cried heroically, pausing to allow his words to wash over the audience, "Those words upon which so many have latched their lives upon! I tell you, today-!"

He grinned, turning toward the silhouetted figure with a look of absolute determination, clenching a fist as he instructed with a vigorous air, "-he has come!"

The skeevy Niq, who had seemed so picture-picture for the background, grabbed the cloak and yanked it free, revealing the figure of a Zora man, face locked in stoic indifference as he stared forward without a flinch as the pristine man approached him as the crowd of Domain dwellers arose their voices in a humid mixture of confusion, shock, and terror.

Urbosa lifted her head only slightly as her eyes widened slightly in a worry all her own, hidden so well behind her critiquing eyes.

For the man beneath the cloak was covered in crimson scales.

She turned toward the others to find Zelda reeling in shock as well, her hand covering her face in exasperation while Link and Daruk looked on, the Hylian's gaze narrowing in his own critical stare.

"Surely you all know by now the tale of the Sundered Scale!" the man, who had certainly turned into something of a hype man, declared, "I, Akis, give unto you all the Sundered Scale himself! Dolare! The true King of this Domain!"

The stifled murmurs among the Zora suddenly grew to a fever pitch as a wave of confusion and anger began to arise from the assertion of a 'true' King, the loyalist mindset of the Zora immediately drawing attention to the idea of Dorephan's rule being anything less than legitimate. The guards present, among them Zevan and his two companions, quickly began to quell the unrest by stepping toward the now-sizable crowd, understanding this show as exactly that.

"Fake!" "Bastard!" arose sharp insults from the crowd, forcing the pristine Niq, Akis, to raise his arms in a shrug.

"Fake?!" he challenged, "Then come! Face these scales that have clung onto this man's body in birthright!"

His hand turned down toward the massive, craggy scar that lined Dolare's side, the grotesque aberration now catching Urbosa's attention as her interest turned to horror. The sickly, zig-zagging line had torn nearly from his armpit to his waist, a rather nefarious deep having had to come to the man who now held the title of 'Sundered Scale'.

"Touch his scar!" Akis challenged loudly, "Feel with your own fingers where your _King_, Dorephan, drove a dagger into his side when he was but-"

Zevan's head turned over his shoulder in confusion, he immediately returned to the crowd as a number of them began to push against him and the rest of his guards until, finally, the voice of Tovar rang out amongst the whole of the Domain, a roar so powerful that it rang in echo to the very height of Zorana.

"ORDER!" he cried out, slamming the butt edge of his trident into the floor below, immediately quelling the crowd.

He gave a sharp glance toward the Niq, "You'd better be able to back up these treasonous claims, stranger."

"Back up?" Akis retaliated incredulously, turning a hand toward Dolare himself, "See upon him those scales of crimson? clung onto by only those of Royal lineage? Come! Examine him yourself; you'll see it is no mere trick of the light nor of pigments of paint."

Tovar's eyes constricted in examination as he held his ground, forcing Akis to turn to another onlooker, "You there, fellow Zora, come and see for yourself!"

His attention fixed upon the Niq with a course expression, Tovar noticed the Zora closing in, slowly but surely, as the man, Dolare, lifted his arm to present himself. The onlooker slowly approached, peevishly prepared for some trick to be played, though as he gradually reached over to touch the man's scales, a hollow breath left him as his fingers ran across his scales.

"It-" he managed with shock, "They're real."

"Indeed they are," Akis reiterated beneath the impending murmurs and whispers of the Zora, "As real as this man's claim to the throne. A claim not levied loosely. Any chance of a union between these two men were soiled the moment this man's father plunged a dagger into his side when he was but a child, ready to do whatever it took to end any suspicions of illegitimacy."

Urbosa bit her tongue as she fought away the urge to challenge the man before her, though she knew it wasn't her place. Instead, as Akis went on, Urbosa turned her head to scan the Domain, her brow fading into anxiety as she locked onto Mipha, whose own face was spun in a look of confusion and sadness, her fist clutching at her chest as she watched from an ascending ramp, out of view of the Niq.

"You there!" cried Akis, pulling Urbosa's attention back to the fore, "Gerudo! Come and see yourself! A touch unadulterated by the scaled hands of my compatriots; please, humor me!"

Urbosa's expression turned narrow as she considered his offer, her legs slowly taking her closer as she answered, "Okay…"

She approached the man referred to as Dolare, feeling the piercing gazes of her fellow Champions upon her back as she did so. A wealth of conflicting emotions swirled within her, uncertainty, even doubt, seeping into the back of her mind as she thought of Mipha and her father, especially as she rested a hand upon Dolare's arm. Her palm was met with a stinging chill, followed by the coarse sensation of scales, her eyes following along as she ran her hand the length of the man's arm.

"See?" Akis goaded happily, "Do what you must, please! Scratch them, pull at them; you'll find that they're certainty authentic!"

Urbosa wondered if he were simply bluffing, so she did so, taking a scale between her thumb and forefinger and pulling at it, though to no avail. As she repeated the motion, she quickly turned her head up toward Dolare himself, her eyes piercing into his own pair as her brow roughened in forceful reply to his own stare.

She was caught off guard. Behind those eyes, confirmed by a shiver rushing down her spine- behind the bravado, the muscle, the atmosphere surrounding this man- behind those eyes, there seemed to be a man lost in this world.

Taken aback, Urbosa failed to pull at his scale once more, her critiquing glance seeming to be distasteful to the man as Dolare gradually tightened his pull from her until Urbosa finally relinquished her grip, though she couldn't help but continue to stare into that man's face as she carefully stepped backward. Akis went on hyping up the crowd, but even as the man whooped and hollered, Urbosa was left with a conflicted energy from the crimson-scaled man.

"What do you plan on doing by coming here," Tovar finally demanded, stripping Urbosa from her studious stare, "You cannot honestly hope to upend an entire culture simply by bringing a man here with red scales."

Akis' face contorted with ferocity, "Maybe not me, soldier; but then again, it is not just me. Even beyond our group here, there are others far too ready to seek the prosperity only Dolare can provide through his divine mandate."

He grinned, "You only have yet to open your eyes to see them."

Tovar's eyes fell into narrow slits, surveying the threatening tone as Akis returned to the group, speaking amongst themselves as the Domain crowd began to rise to ruckus. Urbosa found her hand stroking her chin in observation at the entire ordeal, frowning distastefully as she once again ran her eyes along the man's scar. Why had the King been brought to silence? Might he truly have-..?

A sigh escaped her before she turned her attention back to where Mipha had last been standing, only to find that same spot vacated, leaving the Gerudo with a displeased shake of her head, wondering what thoughts might have been rolling around the Princess' head if she, herself, were flooded with doubt now.

As the crowd warily approached the Niq as if in sampling, leaving Tovar uncertain as to how to progress, Urbosa found a seam through the crowd, pushing her way through toward the King's Chamber, turning her head over her shoulder to find Zelda and the others having also left their spot, presumably to come here as well. She hoped, more desperately than ever, for some answered.

Hopefully answered that might quell the doubts wrestling within her mind.


	29. The Dastardly Plan of a Scholar

Revali coursed through the air with a blistering speed, making mincemeat of the vaporous air that bellowed from within the basin of Zorana as he overtook the seams of air currents as though his eyes were able to track such things. He had spent much of his morning atop the mountains of Zorana, seeking, perhaps, whatever views those peaks might offer him from the opposite side of Hyrule than he'd always known, but as he flew about, his eagle-eye caught a glimpse of Urbosa waving him down from his ascended position, forcing a scoff from him as he began his descent toward the King's chambers, slamming down into a skid as he joined the Gerudo amongst the faux ground of the land-dwelling populous.

"I'll have you know, I was enjoying the most pleasant time of this entire excursion," Revali complained, running his arms atop one another to smooth out his feathers, "What is so important that you had to call me down from my magnificent altitude?"

Urbosa, in no mood for such talk, merely frowned as she turned into the chamber, a slightly peeved Revali following along as he scoffed, "Ah, an audience with their King, I presume? Does this mean we're not to linger any further and we may advance this quest?"

Again failing to receive a reply, Revali's beak turned low in distaste as the two approached the interior of the throne room, with only Dorephan and the other Champions currently present. Zelda remained rather disjointed from the group as she sat to the side stroking her chin in thought as the conversation between Mipha and her father pressed on, Link and Daruk listening intently, though with little room to join in themselves.

"-what was I to do then?" Dorephan questioned as Revali came within earshot, "Such accusations. I was enraged, but I kept my temper about me; they're Niq. A cult of, ostensibly, kind people. How would it appear had I retaliated? All I could do was refuse to offer my seat atop the throne, but I hadn't a clue they'd return for such a performance. I wished they would simply leave after their bid to convince me failed- not that it took much."

Mipha's eyes narrowed, "So you never-"

Her father leaned forward atop his throne, a scathing voice tearing past his tongue, "No! And don't you _ever_ presume that such a thought would ever cross my mind."

Falling back in his throne, Dorephan sighed, rubbing his face with exhaustion, leaving Mipha to drop her head after such a heated reply from her father. He ran fingers along his closed eyes, shaking his head as he calmed himself.

"I'm sorry, my daughter. You don't deserve my anger," he admitted with dread, "I loved your mother with every ounce of my being. That anyone would dare accuse me of anything less- It _is_ infuriating. but that is not your intention."

"I understand," confirmed Mipha with a tender voice, her eyes making wayward glances down toward her feet, "I just don't know why such things would happen to begin with."

Nodding thoughtfully, Dorephan replied cooly, "I spent the last night with great unease, thinking over the very same things that you are. From what I surmise- and I do agree, it _is_ rather unbelievable, I have considered this to be a rather lengthy conspiracy."

"Conspiracy?" Link questioned suddenly, "How do you figure?"

Dorephan shrugged, "They are Niq, or rather, they claim to be. From what I understand, from what my guard has relayed to me, they are using that fact with tremendous zeal, hoping to sway those among us who carry the same beliefs. Either they started this cult, or they're simply latching upon it because it serves them well, but regardless, that makes them even more dangerous."

"They are peaceful people…" Mipha softly answered in anguished voice, "It would not look good to make them an enemy…"

"No," Dorephan shook his head, "They must've known that from the start of this long-formed plot. Tovar managed a touch upon the crimson one's scar and said it was one that has taken a many great years to form. A military man such as he would know. This plan of theirs has taken much time to come to fruition, assuming that scar was formed simply to tarnish my reputation."

Urbosa, her arms crossed in reservation, muttered in review, "So they're cunning, what with using the Niq's reputation to their advantage, and may be dedicated- this plot has been forming for a long time, perhaps. What of the man's red scales?"

Reaching up to stroke his chin, Dorephan shook his head, "That, I haven't a clue. Such a thing comes only from royal blood, that is, from either myself, or my wife. My children are too young, and that man is too young to be by the former generation."

"How might it be from you, though?" Daruk wondered, "You haven't red scales yourself, with all due respect."

Shaking his head, Dorephan agreed, "You are correct, and had I been unclaimed by the woman taken to be my wife, there wouldn't be a question. We Zora, however- our royalty becomes shared between a pair. Much as my body swelled into the mighty being you see today, any product of myself and another would breed crimson scales. Something about our chemistry, I suppose; when I became bound to my wife, I became royalty myself."

Such a quandary of biology caught Link's attention as he turned his eyes to find Zelda in the corner, thinking and considering so deeply that such a topic failed to raise her curiosity. He watched her sitting there, huddled in place with a narrow stare as her mind churned in it's own quandary.

"So the scales could be from-" Urbosa wondered, but was quickly halted by Dorephan.

"They are _not_," he scorned with a hot breath, "Of that, you can be certain."

Urbosa averted her gaze, "_Okay_ then… So they're painted somehow, some oddity amongst one in a million Zora, whatever- What's the motive?"

"The motive is to clear me from the throne," Dorephan answered plainly as if the question were worthless in the face of common sense.

Sighing, Urbosa dropped her shoulders, "No, the _why_? Why would they do this in the first place? If this plan had taken so long to carry out, why spend so much time? A personal grudge perhaps?"

"That I do not know," Dorephan quickly surmised, "Though I've never made it much of a habit to make enemies. Even if my days as a military whelp, I'm sure this Hylian will assure you, I commanded more respect from his people than hatred."

He turned to Link, who cocked his lips matter-of-factly. "I mean, he does speak the truth mostly."

"Then they're merely after the throne," Daruk answered, "But what exactly does that entail?"

Dorephan grumbled, "Not even _that_ much. Not enough that I'd figure would be worth a smear campaign."

"We have a Council of Elders," Mipha reminded, "My father cant simply wield power the way prior generations of Kings might have."

"Again, the truth," Dorephan nodded before dropping his head defeatedly.

Sensing his diminishing resolve, Link pounded a fist into his palm, "Look, this is all moot to begin with. _I_ don't much care why they're doing this, and frankly, whatever the cause, we cannot change it. The results, which they've now wrought upon this Domain- _that_ is what we can alter."

Mipha bowed her head to hide her face, embarrassed as she was of the man she loved coming to her home's defense, nearly relieved by Urbosa's teasing voice, lined with insinuation as she smirked, "Well, boy; spoken like a true leader of the Royal Guard. But words are simply that. You must have actions to back that up."

"Well," Link muttered in reply, eying Urbosa sarcastically, "That's why I brought it up. We're all smart people, mostly; we can brainstorm some ideas."

Revali felt the feathers along his neck crinkle, turning his lips downward, "Why do I have the condescending feeling that such words were aimed at me?"

"Only because you presumed so, I assure you," Link sighed, returning to the King, "Why not lead some of your soldiers-"

"Out of the question," Dorephan concluded with a scowl, "I would rather give up my throne than turn a spear toward my brothers and sisters."

Link curled his lips, thinking of his late father along the plains of Akkala facing riots, "Not even to peacefully displace them?"

"No," Dorephan repeated, "They were aware that I would be remiss to combat a cult known for peace. They've check-mated me on that front, yet I'm aware there are moves I've simply failed to consider as of yet."

Link's eyes fell to the sleek floor beneath him, taking in a deep breath as King Dorephan gave an extending sigh of exasperation, "I was rather happy to hear my daughter had returned once those Niq had left. There are numerous chances that we Zora only think in ways that other peoples do not. Perhaps there may yet be an idea that will come, but-"

Frowning, the King sighed, "Mipha, my child. Would you be so kind as to fetch my pauldron over there?"

She nodded obediently as Dorephan continued, "This mess has me thinking extensively about your mother. She was always the smart one, I always think; it would be ruinous to imagine how deep I would be beneath the seas without her guidance and patience."

Mipha took the piece of armor meant for her father's shoulder, a piece she recognized quite well, even her memory flaring up in intensity as her father brooded aloud, "The suit she had crafted for me as a young man had long outgrown me, so- Even unto her dying day, she hoped to craft for me a set of armor to fit my current form."

He took the piece of ornately adorned armor, a wistful look upon his face as his eyes soured at the sight of it, "This was all that she could manage…"

Mipha reached out to press her hand against her father scaling skin, "I do not wish for these events to upset you, father."

"No, no," her father assured with a sigh, putting the piece of armor away, "The time for melancholy ended long ago. I'm a King, after all. My responsibility to the safety of my people remain at the forefront of my mind, even now."

He turned toward Link with a jovially friendly voice, "I only wish we had a plan in place this instant! I've long been a man of action; having a set goal would invigorate me!"

Link nearly wavered under the massive man's gaze, turning toward Daruk with inquiry as the Goron replied with a glare of his own, one of puerile confusion, "I mean, uh- The only thing I've come up with would be to snuff out their presence, but that, of course, has already been overruled."

He stroked the white hair at his chin, "But why would it have to be an assault upon the Niq in general? We all know they're newcomers, don't we?"

"True, Goron," Dorephan agreed, "But even so, I have already accepted their presence by proxy, simply by my inaction when the Niq cult first took root. So long as there remain brothers and sisters among us in this Domain, they may as well have a home here."

Such intricacies were broad and labyrinthine to Daruk's conceptions of society, which obviously came from his own Goron upbringing, and while he found such things intriguing, he hated to offer nothing to the discussion. He turned toward Urbosa, who also stood there in thought, and then Revali, who merely stood by the doorway with a look plastered upon his face that was teeming with revulsion at his being grounded for this.

Still, Revali leaned in close to Urbosa, his decorum still preventing him from outburst, as he whispered, "So… Is _anybody_ going to speak of- well, the elephant in the room?"

Urbosa whipped her head around toward him with a pithy tone, "Dude. Feel the room, alright?"

Frowning, Revali returned to his previous stance before leaning against a nearby pillar, "I'm _sorry_; I thought we had a mission to-"

"We trick them," came a sudden, timid voice that fought with resilience for the attention of everybody present, the lot of them turning toward Zelda as she stood up.

Dorephan's eye's narrowed, "How do you mean, Hylian..?"

Crossing her arms, Zelda dropped her head toward her chest, "Why did they make a big hubbub in the middle of the Domain today? Because they _do_ realize they have something to prove. Why don't we use that against them?"

Amidst a cacophony of silence, Zelda's eyes peeked up to find nothing but blank stares plastered atop her, forcing her lips to twist in frustration, "Look, despite their big show today, nobody can be so easily swayed, not even the Niq- perhaps _especially_ the Niq who live here in the Domain. They've conjured up their own visions of who this crimson savior is supposed to be, after all, and that man- Dolare, was it?"

"It was, yes," Urbosa nodded with a bad taste upon her tongue, "Though that showman, Akis, seemed to be running the show."

Zelda went on, "That man still has to convince everybody of his, I suppose, divinity, correct? I mean, he's asking them to depose a King who's reigned for decades, right? They're gonna need some-"

Link caught on, feeling the sling over his shoulder weigh down as if the Master Sword were aware of its being addressed.

"-something to prove his worth?" Zelda smirked wryly enough as she motioned toward Link, "And do we not so happen to have a rather important indicator of such things as the divine?"

Mipha, Daruk, and Urbosa all spun toward Link, within whom a sudden swell of self-consciousness took over before Dorephan's eyes gave him a look-over, his deep voice releasing as a soft tremor in reverence, "That _is_ what it appeared to be…"

Link took the hilt of the Master Sword into his hand, noticing the darkening expression upon Mipha's face as he did so, before pulling it free from its sheath for the King to examine with exaltation, "What a day I've lived to see. Even amongst us Zora, that Sword is a magnificent display of those who watch upon this world."

"So," Daruk surmised, "We offer them the sword, and when they hope to take it, they, presumably, will fail to do so, and that alone will discredit them?"

"If they refuse, they could simply defer to the fact that they're claiming the Zoran throne, not the throne of Hyrule Kingdom," Urbosa noted, "Though, I'd venture a guess that they're not completely stupid- I'm sure they've got such things considered."

Zelda raised her voice, a hint of mischievousness lining her voice, "_That's_ where our trick comes in."

Impressed, Urbosa's brow raised with intrigue as Zelda went on, "Link, you've got your old sword with you as well, correct?"

Nodding, Link replied, "Back in my room, yes."

"So," Zelda gave a smarmy grin, "What if we were to fashion _that_ sword to resemble the Master Sword? Urbosa knows metalworking, don't you?"

Her head cocked to the side, Urbosa gave an affirmative reply before Zelda went on, "Then, outside the view of anybody else, we secretly present Dolare with the opportunity to raise the fake sword, which, of course, he'll handle with no problem. Then later, with everybody present, he will be more than happy to accept our challenge, won't he?"

The looks of confusion upon everybody's faces slowly melted into ones of curiosity before becoming expressions of sincere interest, with Link asking quietly, the image of Mipha appearing within his mind, "What if he knows the Master Sword changes its mind about such things?"

Zelda smirked, "As the _foremost_ authority on the Master Sword, I can assure you- Not within a _single_ text, anywhere, has there _ever_ been a reference to the Master Sword having such an ability. Why do you think _I_ was so intrigued?"

"True," Link acknowledged.

With further assurance, Zelda finished, "Beyond mere hearsay, _nobody_ within the Niq would be able to fancy a guess that grasping the Master Sword wouldn't be a continuous result."

"And that's how you create a false prophet," Urbosa concluded with a wry smile of her own, dropping her arms to her side as her fists rested atop her hips, "I like it."

"As do I!" Dorephan greeted with exuberant air, applauding Zelda's plan with a jovial tone, "You know, for one so quiet, you certainly have quite loud ideas!"

Caught between hubris and embarrassment, Zelda simply shrugged with a cool air, "It was nothing, really."

"Aren't we forgetting something?" Daruk suddenly wondered aloud, earning him the stares of the others, "…what if, you know- he _does_ manage to take the Master Sword?"

An awkward air suddenly cast itself over the group like a massive net tossed atop the ocean's surface. Zelda's lip trembled, having not even considered that possibility though, now that it had presented itself, it gave her pause. They knew nothing of that man, Dolare- They knew nothing of anybody within that group.

"If that happens," Zelda quietly whispered in a voice that rang out only faintly amongst the group, "We're all but giving him, not only the Master Sword, but the Domain itself."

The unease amidst the group grew to a fever pitch, leaving any resolution to come from a rather unlikely source as Revali spoke up with a frustrated voice, "Well?! We haven't much else to go on, correct?!"

He threw a finger toward Dorephan, "You're a man of action, correct?! Then take it! What else have me thought up beyond the ramblings of a man without a brain?!"

Dorephan gave a prolonged hum before smiling, a laugh breaking through as his head fell back onto the back of his throne, "BWAH HA! You know Rito, your tongue is as sharp as your beak!"

He turned toward Zelda, "Hylian, you are, indeed, the foremost authority on the Master Sword, correct?"

Zelda's eyes widening in shock at being put on the spot, but she stammered an answer, "I, uh- I mean, anybody else who might be considered would be dead by now, so-…"

"Then, so long as it's in your care, I leave my Domain up to you," he acquiesced easily, earning him a sharp stare from Mipha that contrasted with Zelda's look of utter shock.

"F-Father!" Mipha shouted, "This-! I mean, truly, Zelda is my friend, but-! Your Domain!"

Raising his arms in surrender, Dorephan replied, "I must trust that only good can result from this. And, as you said, she is your friend, my daughter. I trust your judgement more than my own, oftentimes. You must have gotten that from your mother."

He threw his hand in the air, "Have at it, Princess Zelda! Though, if I do end up without a home, I trust there will always be a room within your castle?"

"I- uh- what- do-" Zelda stammered in continued flabbergast, requiring a tender embrace from Urbosa before beginning to calm down.

"She'd be honored, your majesty," Urbosa answered for her with a smile.

Dorephan then turned to Link, "I suppose, then, it's up to you, child."

Link felt his shoulders tighten beneath the weight he suddenly found there. Beneath the gaze of her father, he couldn't bear a glance toward Mipha, though he might have known what would have greeted him. That same, lost look from that night they shared with one another. But a chill escaped the back of his neck at the thought of Mipha, his destiny with the woman he loved so clouded by that Sword slung upon his shoulder.

If he just threw the Master Sword clear across Hyrule… Could _that_ bind him to the one he loved instead of this thing that so hurt her.

He remembered his journal. The Master Sword was never in his plans.

Mipha was.

"…if," Link began, turning his head toward Mipha, "If Zelda-"

Tears welled up in Mipha's eyes. Her head shook with such subtlety that it might as well have been a shiver.

Link paused, turning toward Zelda, "If Zelda's involved… I trust her."

He raised the Sword toward her, "It's in her care."

Shuddering dramatically in Urbosa's arms, Zelda attempted to manage the massive responsibility now thrust upon her as Dorephan chuckled, "Now _that's_ the look of a child coming into her own!"

He offered his gigantic fin, reaching out to pat Zelda's head, "You'll do fine, Princess. If we're so certain that these Niq mean trouble, then this mission has no chance to fail."

"T-True," Zelda managed.

"Keep me in the loop," Dorephan ordered, "I'm afraid I'll be of little help, but I'll do what I can. It's in the hands of- What was that word, daughter?"

Mipha's gaze had remained fixed upon Link until her father's voice broke her concentration, her reply coming without preparations, "Word- Oh. Ch- Champions."

"Ah, such a promising name," Dorephan acknowledged as if attempting to match the word with the people before him, "Well, Champions, you'd best prove yourselves. Mipha said you were all the best Hyrule had to offer. I can't think of anyone better to rest my hopes upon."

He waved for them to exit, which they began to do so, albeit with Zelda receiving some help from Urbosa as she attempted to regain feeling within her legs. Link turned to leave as well, though was stopped by a sudden grasp at his arm, turning to find Mipha clutching him with a terrified look upon her face.

"Link-" she muttered, nearly in a whimper, "Don't-"

He shook his head, "If this sword knew I would toss it away, would it have chosen me?"

Recalling the night before, Mipha dropped her head, speaking softly, "Don't…throw away your destiny."

Still in the presence of her father, Link remained unable to hold her as he so desperately wished at that moment. To alleviate her worries- it was his duty, he surmised, as the one she loved. All he could do at that moment was reach his hand up, resting it atop her own which remained at his arm. His fingers curled between her fingers, squeezing as best he could, finding that pleasantly smooth skin where her scales failed to reach.

"I don't need this to have a destiny," he confirmed, "All I need is you."

Still concerned, Mipha recognized their proximity to her father as well, allowing her hand to slide away before the two slowly began to follow the others outside. Who was she, she thought, to steal away this man from such greatness that followed that sword?

She was nothing. Even the sword itself knew that. She was nothing more than a Princess, unable to bring anything upon her family beyond the shame so inexorably exuded from her mother before she passed.

And it so pained her.


	30. Surrender

Zelda ran her hands up and down her face as she tempered the ravenous thoughts running through her mind. The Champions had retired to Daruk and Urbosa's quarters, the curtains drawn so as to prevent any prying eyes, where they had began to flesh out their plan, as tempestuous as that might have been. While the outline of the plot had been drawn, how to go about it had been a rather incongruous matter in itself, which a triumvirate of suggestions had been employed. As Zelda listened to the arguments, exhaustion had begun to settle within her in time with the waning sun, darkness casting over the Domain as the Champions continued disagreement.

"Just _give him_ the fake sword!" Urbosa charged with a stern tongue, "Who cares if he knows what it is or doesn't? He'll recognize it soon enough whenever he's presented with the Master Sword!"

Daruk grinded a fist across his forehead, "Again, we cannot leave this matter to chance! Say he doesn't recognize it, or better yet, even if given a false weapon, who says he would take it from some random being anyway?"

"That's why we employ Mipha to do so," Urbosa explained, "If anything, he'll be willing to show off for a member of royalty."

"Bah," Daruk grumbled, "Such a ridiculous idea."

Revali gave a scathing reply, "This coming from the _King_ of poor ideas. A rolling Goron travel agency. Those sands truly must have damaged whatever mass of thought you have in that boorish head of yours."

"It's a work in progress!" Daruk challenged.

Clicking his tongue, Revali shook his head, "I should have spoken sooner _my_ idea. In the presence of one more erudite than you all, the Zora King would have recognized my plan as the most sensible."

"Oh yeah, sneaking the fake sword into the man's hand while he sleeps is a _way_ better plan," Urbosa spoke with sarcastic droll as her eyes rolled out of view.

Revali shrugged, "It prevents any action of his toward the contrary. Once he wakes, think of the zeal upon his ego! He would take hold of Farosh's horn at that point!"

As the arguing progressed, Link remained silent off to the side, his eyes resting upon Mipha with concern as she sat apart from him, a downcast expression keeping her attention elsewhere. He wanted nothing more that to make his way toward her and take her in his arms, but with the Company present, such things were not available to him, leaving him as crestfallen as she. What might have been going through her mind, he wondered. Disappointment in him, sure. But beyond that? She seemed upset with herself more than him.

"Zelda, you must choose!" Daruk shouted with a sudden gasp of fuming breath, "We've made our arguments!"

Urbosa sighed, "I do hate to put you on the spot, child, but Daruk speaks the truth. Time _is_ of the essence, and unfortunately, the darkness can only help our plot, so-"

Dropping her hands to reveal a face burning red from friction, Zelda groaned deeply, "I know, I know; just- I can't say I'm convinced of any of your plans."

"Bah!" Revali visibly complained amidst a scowl.

Zelda shrugged, "If I'm to handle such responsibility- It's what my father always said. The short-lived King acts; the wise King waits."

She scratched her ear as her face narrowed wistfully, "I know it's stupid, but- I'd like to think this is a trial for myself to overcome. I'd like to do it properly."

Sighing, having forgotten her role as this young woman's surrogate mother, Urbosa dropped her shoulders, "No, you're right. and it's not stupid."

She sent a finger out to bring Zelda's chin upward so that their eyes could meet, the Gerudo smiling sweetly, "You're tapped to be a Queen in your own right one day."

Zelda grinned brightly in reply, though the mood was rushed to a halt as Revali complained, "Waiting _also_ brings you to your doom in some instances. I'd like to remind you that the longer we _wait_, the more resistance builds."

"You're right," Zelda groaned, "Regardless of what we do afterward, the first step of this plan is set in stone. Link, your sword?"

Link nodded in reply, noticing Mipha's eyes upon him as he stood, "You sure you can replicate the Master Sword from memory? "

A timid voice arose from Mipha as she surprisingly answered instead, "We can stop by the library if we need to. There are drawings of it in a few texts, I'm sure."

"_We_?" Zelda asked.

Link now watched her with concern while Daruk asked, "Wouldn't just one of us be less suspicious?"

"Perhaps. But Urbosa doesn't know these people like I do," Mipha began, reaching up toward her necklace, "Plus, I have this. I can command silence, should we run into a Niq sympathetic of those guests."

Daruk chuckled, "Who knew the two princesses amongst our group would be quite the tricksters!"

Mipha gave quite the mischievous grin as she stepped toward Urbosa, "I _was_ a child myself, once."

Turning back to the others, she motioned toward Link, "He should be aware of such things."

Link nodded with a grin of his own before bringing his hands together in front of him, "I taught her how to do squirt-gun hands- you know, like this. _That_ was in exchange for the time she and I raided the pantry at the inn."

Almost proudly, Mipha felt her posture straighten as her shoulders fell in line behind her, smiling brightly while Zelda reiterated, breaking her from her spell, "Alright, if you two are ready. We'll try to figure out the best way to lay out the next part of our plan back here."

Mipha and Urbosa traded nods before turning toward the entryway, stepping out beneath Link's concerned glance into the breezy air of the Domain, immediately forcing Urbosa's hands to run up and down her arms.

"We arrived a bit too late for you all to notice, but the waters cool before the cliffsides due as the sun sets," Mipha explained in apology, "It should grow more temperate within the hour."

"I hope so," Urbosa fought back a whine, "So, where to?"

Mipha replied simply enough, "Well, to the library, just in case. After that, we have an armor shop that should have all you need to forge that sword- or rather, alter it."

She eyed the Gerudo with interest, "I hadn't a clue you were a blacksmith."

Urbosa shrugged, "I know the other races often consider it 'men's work', but-"

She threw her arms up in presentation, allowing a giggle to leave Mipha as she answered, "I see."

"Seriously though, as Chieftain of a small town, you learn real quick that you haven't the numbers to have masters of their craft wandering around all over the place, so you sort of become a jack of all yourself, even if that results in becoming a master of none," Urbosa noted as she examined the sword in her hands, "The Hylians seem to pay homage to the Master Sword to begin with in their rank-and-file weaponry, so it shouldn't be much work at all, now that I'm seeing it."

Mipha appreciated her answer as the two began their descent to the lower sections of the Domain, leaving Urbosa so continue with a pensive voice, "You think this will work?"

"So long as my father wishes to avoid expelling them by force, this seems as good of an idea as any," Mipha offered gently.

Urbosa's eyes wandered down toward the Zora princess, "Even if your home is on the line? Seems kind of ridiculous to me just to avoid a fight that we could certainly win."

A silence fell upon the two for a moment, Mipha's spine curdling at the thought of Urbosa's own future, speaking almost with timidity at the response she was expecting, "Don't you have so much more on the line should this journey as a whole result in success?"

Admiring the gall Mipha presented in her question, whether knowingly or otherwise, Urbosa shone a smirk across her face, "One person's body doesn't equate to an entire people's home. That's another thing you'll learn, being the child of a King. That's why your father wishes to avoid violence. He'd much rather sacrifice his own rule before causing unrest among his people."

Urbosa shrugged, "I understand him in that regard. If I am destined to carry the spawn of evil incarnate, who am I to complain if such a thing is the only thing keeping my people from extinction?"

Suddenly remiss by having asked, Mipha simply remained quiet, even if Urbosa had seemed rather lackadaisical about the entire topic. Still, she understood more than Urbosa would ever know, having faced a similar ordeal. Regardless, as the two increased their care as they began toward the more crowded bottom portions of the Domain, such discussions were left behind in favor of focusing on the task at hand, even if it had left Mipha with a bit more respect for the woman at her side.

* * *

Ilem began packing away his things, sighing lightly to himself, longingly, yearning for a better life for his family than he had to offer. It was a dark shadow that constantly followed him, especially at the end of days like these- another day with nothing to show for his dedication. Clearing off his workbench, he allowed himself a moment to sit down and reflect, even if those thoughts did nothing but torment him. Dropping his head into his palm, a chilled sigh escaped him as his eyes caught the silhouette of his forge in his peripheral vision, shaking his head as if to a useless friend who refused to offer help.

A salty breeze overtook his skin, carrying with it the deep, worried voice of his wife, Nephetu, stepping in from the next room that had been constructed for the very forge that now hadn't a use, her body coming to a stop as she watched her husband wallowing once again in failure, her heart breaking not for his lack of success, but for the burden he, alone, held solely atop himself.

"Ilem…" she spoke up, masking the anguish in her voice.

He rose to his feet, "Nothing. Again."

Ilem's head turned to find a stray piece of metal casing lying on the floor, his hands balling into fists as he angrily seethed, "I can't catch a break. Two visiting troupes of outsiders, and what do they bring me but dread?"

He spun around to face his wife, throwing a finger toward the door, "Not a single rupee crossed that frame! The most rag-tag-stricken bunch of- ARGH!"

In a rage, Ilem threw his foot, slamming it in a blistering kick toward the metal casing, sending it careening into the wall with a massive CLANG that echoed throughout the open-air shop that he'd once helped construct himself.

"Ilem, please," Nephetu pleaded with a weakened timbre leaving her tongue, "You'll wake Laflat."

His growing frustration checked by the thought of his daughter, Ilem withheld any further outrage, instead standing there with his head tucked against his chest, his teeth barred angrily as he warded off further noise. His shut his eyes as tight as he could before tightening them even more, as if inflicting pain upon himself as his own retribution for offering such a pathetic existence for his family.

"Ilem," came the sweetly deep voice of his wife as she embraced him from behind, "This place was your dream. but it's killing you. And it's killing me to have to watch you do this to yourself, day after day."

He broke free from her arms, turning to face her, "I just need one break. Just one! Why couldn't have been those- those- goons?! or that conglomeration of whoever the heck?!"

"That's not how it works sometimes, my sweet," Neph answered breathlessly, not at all uncomfortable by now with continuously checking her husband's anger and delusions of better days ahead- these nights had become increasingly routine.

"You know what it is, don't you?" Ilem questioned without any space for a reply, "Those Hylian steelcrafters. How many of those long-ears come here for a taste of Zoran steel? None, that's who! If I could just- travel there and learn some-"

Nephetu's eyes narrowed, "You're _not_ spending the last of our-"

"It's not a waste! It's an investment!" Ilem pleaded, "If I could match the Hylians, I could fuse that with the Zora technique-! Maybe construct steel that never fails!"

With a breathless sigh, Nephatu replied, "Ilem, we have a daughter. We have enough rupees to get her past this week's meals, but you want that to go toward a trip?"

Ilem's lips spun with venom at the insinuation of his idea being worthless, but just as quickly, the thought of his daughter pervaded throughout all else, leaving his shoulders weakened as he fell seated back onto his workbench, shaking his head. Nephetu's eyes lowered sorrowfully as she approached him, sitting at his side and running her hand along his back, doing what she could to comfort him.

"What do I do, Neph?" he asked with a shaky voice.

She frowned, "I don't know, my sweet. This place was your dream. I dare not tell you to abandon it, but- _Something_ has to change. You refuse help from our peers; you send Laflat out to her training in worn armor that threatens to get her speared instead of accepting what they have to spare."

"No, no," Ilem muttered, shaking his head, "When I opened this shop, I made a promise to myself that I would be a proud beacon of my people, not an embarrassment."

He pointed beyond his wife toward the forge in the adjoining enclosure, "So long as that forge is alight, I haven't wholly made a mockery of my life."

"My sweet," Neph quietly whispered, "You have a daughter's life, now, to think about."

Ilem gave an enthusiastic nod, "Think how proud she'd be to continue this shop's history once I pass! I just have to keep my head down and keep trying to-"

"_Ilem_," his wife repeated with dread, "We-"

A gentle rapping came from the doorframe, jolting the two's attention toward the knocking to find the Princess standing there, oddly enough, with a tall Gerudo woman at her side. Nephetu recoiled in fright, knowing that Lady Mipha being here this late was quite the oddity, though Ilem immediately leapt to his feet, scurrying over toward the door with the pitter-patter of a child during the winter holidays.

"Y-Yes! How may I assist you!" he served with a chipper voice that contrasted his tearful face, even after he had wiped his arm along his eyes, "I've shut down the forge, but if you don't mind waiting, I haven't a problem serving you both at any time of night!"

Neph whispered, "Laflat is sleeping…"

Ilem gave a nervous smile over his shoulder before returning to the guests with a weakly assuring laugh, leaving Mipha to inquire with her own concern, "Ilem? Are you-"

"Okay? Why, yes! Certainly!" he happily replied, earning him a questioning glance from Urbosa, "Whatever might be the matter?"

Mipha pulled her lips inward, deeply uncertain by the man's reassurances, though she knew this wasn't the time to question him, simply continuing along, "Well, we need your assistance. This is Urbosa."

Shared nods between the two.

"We have this blade here-"

As Urbosa revealed the sword, Ilem's eyes lit up, "Oh! A magnificent blade at that! Hylian crafted… Looks like, perhaps…of the smelter's guilds, not the workmen from the bladesmith himself. See?"

He reached out to grasp the blade himself, pointing at notches within its construction that Mipha and Urbosa might as well have been blind upon review, "These divots are left only by the most skilled craftsmen; sort of like an autograph. It's easy to mistake for faults in the construction, but these won't cause issues with the steel itself; it will remain trued. I'm honored to be in its service!"

For a moment, Nephetu could smile warmly at the man she once knew well enough to offer her very life to.

Ilem eyed the two guests, "What shall I perform? Does it require sharpening? I can ensure its hilt it well-stocked to resist impact!"

Urbosa, recognizing the man's devotion, warily offered as her face contorted with anxiety, "Well, we kind of need to…alter it."

"Alter?!" Ilem retorted with shock, pulling the sword against his chest, "This sword was crafted by-!"

"We know," Mipha suddenly interjected, reaching a hand up to cover her chest, "Ilem, it's important."

The man's brow, furrowed as it was in concern for the piece of steel within his arms, tightened further before Mipha went on, "I don't even have to ask you to do it. Urbosa here knows some steelworking herself. So long as we could borrow your forge, she can-"

"You know how to work with steel?" Ilem suddenly wondered with credulous intrigue.

Urbosa nodded, "I do."

"So, uh, you know some- how was it- tricks of the trade?"

Shrugging, Urbosa answered, "I mean, I suppose. I haven't a knack or anything, but I know enough to be serviceable. My teacher was Toseifi, who was well-renowned for her technique of burying plated steel in the sand and creating a glassy exterior that was rather prized by many in Hyrule."

"Reeeally…" Ilem managed as his mind spun, "You wouldn't be able to show me some of that, would you?"

Urbosa's eyes fell skeptical as she charged, "Offer us your forge and you have a deal."

Ilem examined the sword in his arms once more. What was a single sword against a lifetime of practicing future works of art?

"Alright, let's light her up!" he declared excitedly, returning the sword to Urbosa before disappearing into the next room to stoke the forge, leaving Nephetu to groan exasperatingly as she rose to her feet, massaging her face with her hand as she followed her husband into the adjoined room.

Urbosa shrugged, turning to Mipha, "That was easy."

"I suppose it was," Mipha replied with an exhausted air of her own.

Before them, Nephetu returned to the main shop area with a Zora child's hand in hers, Laflat following at her side with her head sunken in tire. The mother smiled weakly at the guests as if to ensure that they weren't any imposition, despite the scene of a woman nearly dragging her near-sleeping daughter from her bed, before the two made their way to the back of the shop where Nephetu offered her arms as a bed once she lifted her daughter against her torso.

"I'm already feeling guilty…" Mipha noted weakly.

Urbosa attempted to convince her quietly, pulling the rolled up page from her pocket, "It won't take too long. It's really just a few things, like- The winged hilt is _that_ low?!"

Biting her lip did little to settle Mipha's quivering nerves, but she still caught some semblance of relief at smoke began to exhaust itself from the forge room, leaving Ilem to wander out with a face charred black with soot.

"Voila!" he declared.

Urbosa nodded with a smirk as she made her way toward the forge before Mipha grabbed her by the arm to inform her, "I'll stay out here, just in case."

Nodding in agreement, the Gerudo continued on her path, with Ilem enthusiastically following her along in hopes of learning some long-lost secret art. This left Mipha near the shop's entrance to keep watch, though she couldn't help but return her glances toward Nephetu and Laflat, a dour feeling overtaking her as she did so. She remembered so many nights shared with her own mother in her arms, but now that she had passed- Even had she still been alive, there were yet bridges unmended; enough, Mipha knew, to keep such loving displays from being shared.

Nephatu noticed Mipha's attention upon her, smiling nervously in reply at the idea of being looked upon by a member of royalty, before bowing her head to keep tending to her exhausted daughter, ensuring that she was sleeping soundly even in her arms.

With a massive plume of smoke trailing behind him, Ilem burst from the adjacent room, leaping toward Mipha with a start, "Lady Mipha! I am to tell you-!"

He slid to a halt, his eyes zeroed in on the shop's entrance. Mipha followed his gaze only for her eyes to widen in surprise at the sight of the Niq visitors approaching them, though it was only two of them: that large, brutish one, Helor, along with the only woman who'd been traveling with them, her stagnant sneer remaining from the last time Mipha had seen her. Ilem did his best to present himself as a proper host, anxious as he was over their bedraggled appearances, slowly approaching them.

"W- W- Well, uh- Hello, there…" he managed, "May- May I help-"

Helor's eyes turned toward Mipha, "You're a hard Zora to find."

* * *

Urbosa's ears perked up. She peered out from her enclosure, but slid against the wall instead of leaving, listening along as she sat the sword down carefully.

A wise Queen waits, she thought to herself.

* * *

Mipha didn't reply.

Snickering, Helor cocked his head toward his accomplice, "I was told to bring Avoh because she can get anybody to speak, or do as we say. Dolare and Akis would like to speak to you, particularly about the future of this Domain."

Rather wishing she had brought her trident, Mipha simply replied, heeding the earlier warning, "Why? If my father goes, I go with him."

"It needn't be so black and white," Helor explained with a shrug, a smirk stretching across his face, "If you were to hear our Master out, I'm sure you'd find his rule to be rather beneficial. He _is_ to bring about a new age of prosperity for the Zora. We spent too many years apart from this Domain; we wouldn't wish those trials upon anybody else."

He cackled suddenly, "Well, maybe a few…"

Mipha's eyes jumped to Avoh, who hadn't moved an inch, though the ferocious-looking woman allowed her eyes to survey the room.

"If it helps persuade you…" Helor muttered, motioning his head forward.

In a blindingly split second, Avoh had leapt toward Ilem, her arm spun around his neck to keep him yanked down to her level, a dagger in her arm pressed into the tender meat of his neck. Nepthatu jumped to her feet in terror, Laflat remaining asleep in her arms, but a stern stare from Helor prevented her from moving further.

"If either of you move," Helor threatened, "You'll learn real quick why Avoh's dorsal fin has been stripped from her body."

Still emotionless, Avoh kept the shivering man in her clutches, though her eyes remained on Mipha despite Ilem's protests.

"L-L-L- Let's j- just-!"

Avoh jerked his body downward just enough to press the dagger into his neck for a moment without exerting any motion from her other arm, leaving Ilem whimpering in her grasp.

Allowing a quiet moment to resonate with his prey, Helor finally spoke up, "You're to come with us, Princess. Failure to do so will result in more deaths than these."

Mipha watched Ilem's shivering body, her eyes narrowing determinately as she returned to Helor, "Let him go."

The brute watched her for a moment before nodding his instruction to Avoh, who did as she was told, slithering away as Ilem dropped to his knees, unable to find the energy to stand as he gasped for breath. Mipha stepped toward him, crouching down and patting his back, her benevolence earning her a wayward glance from him.

"Lady…Mipha," he managed in between choking breaths.

She shook her head, "Finish what you're doing and return to your family. If I'm to be taken, I'm sure it will be to the prisons on the eastern cliffs; you know the ones?"

Ilem's brows coursed with confusion, "Lady Mi-"

"Do you understand?" she repeated.

His eyes strained, Ilem slowly nodded in reply before Mipha rose to her feet, "Don't come after me. I can look after myself, after all. Besides-"

She eyed Helor, "It wouldn't do them much good to kill a Princess."

The massive brute snickered, "Maybe not _kill_ one."

Despite the shivering along her spine, Mipha kept a tenacious face as she began toward him. Her feet had long gone numb, ever since Ilem had been a mere inch from death, though she did as she had routinely done. She had learned long ago, keeping a straight face was the best medicine against fear. As she approached the brutish pair, Helor grinned once again.

"I trust we won't have to restrain you?"

Mipha eyed him with something resembling confirmation, leaving him to shrug as the two of them turned to leave with Mipha following behind them. Where she was headed, she did not know; whether for a simple talk, to imprisonment, or perhaps even death.

But what was her life compared to all of her people?

* * *

Urbosa grinded her teeth angrily as she slammed a fist into her palm, pushing it ever deeper against her skin until her hand began to ache. She shut her eyes, attempting to calm herself down, knowing what still had to be done, until Ilem slowly slid his way back into the room.

"I-" he muttered, "I'm-"

"No time for apologies," Urbosa assured angrily, grabbing the sword and slamming it atop the forge before taking the hammer and slamming it atop the steel with such force that sparks went cascading throughout the room, illuminating the furious expression she now wore.

She had caught Mipha's message. The eastern cliffside. Without question, Urbosa knew Revali would be in the mood for some scouting by the time she returned to the others.


	31. An Uncertainly Tense Ascent

_**A/N: I don't often describe scenes as "perfect", but this Revali/Link scene is certainly up there, I think xD**_

* * *

"Tell me again," Link complained, rubbing the palms of his hands together to ready them for the climb, his head turned up to view the subtle change in hue along the cliffside that denoted the Zora prison area before his eyes cocked to the side to stare sidelong at Revali, "You have wings. Why are we climbing?"

Revali, perpetually in frown ever since he was given Link as an accomplice in this assignment, curled his lips in distaste, "I fail to understand the correlation between a being such as _myself_, prone to _soaring_ across the skies, and one able to hover in place like some insipid trite. Leave that incorrigible act to those wanton Rito who make their living putting on shows for the more profligate among us."

"In Hylian, please."

The Rito scoffed, "I cannot fly in place, you fool."

Link rolled his eyes before reaching down for the rope coiled down by his feet, "All I needed to know."

"And yet I sense some further information you were delving for."

Shrugging, Link began tying the rope into a lasso, "I just was interested in hearing you admit some faults, is all."

A droll expression crept across Revali's face, "I have the gizzards to admit to such things. I would be quite bored by perfection, myself; so long as I'm striving for such a thing, I will always be able to improve. I'm sure you-"

Revali's eyes examined Link from head to toe, visibly showing disgust on his face, "A ghastly sight indeed."

Link shot a glance toward the Rito before returning to his lasso, stepping into the loop of rope and sliding it up his body to find its place around his torso before handing the opposite end to Revali, only to return his attention toward Revali when the rope was left untaken.

"Hey!" Link spoke up, waving his hand toward Revali, whose critical gaze turned up to meet Link's eyes.

"What?"

"You're taking this," Link ordered, "If I fall, the only thing- …what?"

Noticing a smirk emerging atop Revali's face, Link turned dour, knowing what was to come as the Rito noted with a wry tone, "Ah, so we hear some of your own faults now."

"Yes. Faults," Link sighed, "If I fall from a tall enough height, I go _splat_. Weaknesses, right?"

Revali chuckled lightly, "T'would not be a hinderance were you a Rito."

"I recall your ability to fly nearly got you killed in the desert had I not interceded," Link challenged, waving the rope again, "That's how I got _this_ idea, so just-"

The tail end of the rope fluttered about as Link swung his hand in rapid movements until Revali finally took it with a scoff, shrugging as he examined the frayed edge, "So what do _I_ do with it?"

"Now you're just being difficult," Link groaned.

Revali retorted with scorn, "_I'm_ _not_ _used_ to helping those unable to-"

"_Splat_!" Link interrupted, throwing his open hands toward the ground in pantomime, "Just- Stick it in your belt or something. If I fall, you just need to be able to keep me from plummeting to my death. _Then_ who will tell the tale of Revali, the stubborn fowl?"

Revali's eyes remained narrowed as the two locked eyes, the Rito finally turning away as he slowly readied the rope along his belt, "Well, so long as _any_ publicity is good publicity. Only the brightest beings have their best, and worst, recorded for posterity."

"Well you're truly building that latter's repertoire by the moment," Link grumbled aloud before pulling his notebook from his pocket, earning him another glance of ire from his companion.

"_Now_ what?!"

Link sighed, "Why else are we doing this if we can't communicate with Mipha? We have a plan that she kind of needs to be in the loop about, do we not?"

His plumage shivering with frustration, Revali complained, "You try my patience, Hylian…"

"What, we're just going to open our mouths and alert whomever's keeping watch over her?" Link wondered incredulously, "With _your_ mouth, we'd alert the whole of Zorana."

Revali rolled his eyes as he spun away, shaking his head, "This was _not_ worth the headache. Pshaw. Should've had you bring the Goron; he could've slammed pulsation code up the side of the accursed mountain."

"Well, you've got a point there, if Mipha knew such a mode of communication," Link muttered, his eyes leaving the paper he was scribbling on for a slight, nerve-wracked moment, "She actually knows Hylian…"

Finishing up his note, Link tore the page from his notebook, careful to leave the notes on Vah Naboris undamaged during the entire act, and slid it away into his pocket along with his pencil, returning the palms of his hands together once again for warmth as he examined the cliffside once more. Revali joined him, however begrudgingly, keeping to himself until Link began once again.

"Alright. You ready?"

"No," Revali replied, "But I won't _ever_ be _ready_, so I suppose we ought to progress regardless."

Link shrugged, "Good answer."

Slowly, with a slight taste of apprehension, Link stepped toward the sheer face of the cliff, eyeing out hand and footholds to take. As a Royal Knight, his training had including scaling brick walls for nimble maneuvering around the castle perimeter in the event that the major throughways were inaccessible, but those walls had clear indentations. Here, Link was left with little more than the naturally random patterns of jagged edges lining the cliffside.

"The side of your foot…" he thought to himself, recalling Zelda's instruction, though even that was slow going as he gradually progressed up the side of the mountain.

Not a few feet off the ground, he looked up to find Revali overcoming the mountain with a zealous speed that seemed to betray his ability to climb the winds rather than mountains, the line of rope beginning to tighten as the Rito advanced with reckless abandon. Link paused for a groan, knowing his request would lead to an argument, yet went on.

"Hey!" he shouted, "Watch the rope!"

Revali stopped, dropping his shoulder to allow him sight of Link, the feathers at his neck sputtering as he drew a deep, annoyed breath, "Do you intend to remain dragging me down?"

"I don't _intend_ to, but-" Link paused as he concentrated on his next step, "I don't have claws."

"Talons, fool," Revali complained, "Claws. Honestly; you take me for a savage?!"

Link's eyes grew for a moment in sarcastic astonishment before muttering to himself, "Well…"

His head jerked up to find Revali skittering back down the wall to match Link's progress, his voice a scathing complaint to himself, "This is why you do things at your _own_ pace, Revali."

Throwing a finger toward Link's waist, Revali suddenly instructed, "Just keep your hips against the wall. And watch your arms! It's sickening to see, now. Keep them straight; straight arms are happy arms!"

Link's brow curled with confusion at the verbiage, though Revali had spoken with such authority that he simply fell in line, focusing on his technique as he pushed himself up, hips rolling along the cliffside as Revali watched with a critical glance.

"Climb with your eyes," Revali noted further, "I don't even bother looking at my talons; they just know where to go."

Link frowned, unable to perform the same, "Yeah, well…"

A jolt along the line broke him from his concentration, his head jerking upward to find Revali holding the rope between them, his face still lined with scorn, "I'm not about to be impeded by the likes of you. Learn quick! If you fail, I've got you."

Confused by the ambivalent nature of his words, Link dropped his head to glance back at his feet before taking a moment's breath, rolling his eyes as a curse passed his lips. He turned his head upward to keep sight of further ledge points for him to take hold of, leaving his feet with no guidance beyond that ephemeral space in his mind where immediate memory rested.

The going was slow, but increased as Link became better acquainted with his movements. Keeping his hips against the wall relieved much of his mind's preoccupation with falling backward, while his arms remaining straight at any given moment left him with little to worry about were his feet to miss a ledge. An hour had passed without further conversation between the two as Link was able to keep up at least to the point where Revali no longer was complaining, the Rito's breaks acting as points for the rope to loosen between the two, though Link wasn't sure if such pauses were certainly for resting up or not. He, himself, didn't have an opportunity for rest, and figured Revali might simply have been cutting him some slack, literally.

As the segment in the cliffside fast approached that concerned them, Link came to a stop, tugging at the line to signal for Revali to the same, even if he was also met with a scowl. This allowed Link to catch up with a heavy breath, knowing better than to look down, shutting his eyes as his lungs were offered a rest.

"Okay, let's get our bearings," Link instructed before looking up toward the slotted window in the wall, no doubt an accouchement brought along with Hylian craftsmen at some point, "There aren't any points that I can see where we can get much closer."

Revali gave a glance himself, his silence denoting his agreement, leaving Link to continue, "So I guess-"

He groaned, "I'll have to climb onto your shoulders."

"I _BEG_ your pardon?!" Revali roared with insatiable aghast.

"You got any other ideas?" Link fired back, "We don't have forever; the sun's gonna come up soon enough. Unless you start hovering like your unquenched girls, we're quite limited on options."

Revali scowled, "Why am _I_ the one to be spoiled by your filthy soles?!"

"Because while we're still on the subject of weaknesses, carrying a fully grown Rito on a cliffside isn't exactly a feat I'm known to perform. Just-"

Link pulled himself up another few feet before sending his foot toward Revali, who immediately flinched, throwing his side from the cliffside so that only a hand and talon kept him elevated, "GAH!"

"Dude!" Link shouted, looking up to find the prison window just out of reach before returning to Revali, "It's _right_ there!"

An intense disgust roiling throughout his gut, Revali shook his head, "I'm _this_ close to simply leaving the Princess if it means bringing ruin to my plumage! I'll have you know, our elders are chosen as such simply because they've been untouched by nothing but the mightiest gusts!"

Link shut his eyes in frustration, burying his face against the wall as exhaustion sank in. They needed to get this done.

"Just think," Link began calmly enough, "How many stories- How many songs will be written about the Rito who sacrificed his own plumage to rescue the Princess of an entire people? They would sing your praises for hundreds of years."

Revali's lips spun with distaste, though as his mind began to wander, his face softened into one of intrigue. Link kept an impatient groan to himself as Revali finally pet fly a scoff, bringing his limbs back onto the wall before maki g another upward movement to better place himself beneath the window.

"I expect the first one to be written within my own lifetime," Revali confirmed with a growl.

"I'll write it myself if I have-"

Revali interjected, "Bah; you'd soil my memory with your lyrics. Just make it quick. Every second atop me is another second of my life squandered beneath the- gah- grimy feet of a land-dweller…"

Link's shoes dug into Revali's shoulders, leaving the Rito gritting more in displeasure than physical strain. Carefully raising himself up, Link came to the bottom surface of the window, slowly raising his head until his eyes broke the plane, revealing a dank-looking prison, within which his window opened into a cell. Opposite the window was a rudimentary assortment of bars, obviously worn down throughout the ages, perhaps due to the Zora's lack of use of them.

It was so clearly ramshackle, Link noticed immediately. The thought of Mipha having willing given herself up crossed his mind- Urbosa had suggested as much- but even the bars that caught him at the window were so plainly lackluster in their presence. He was even afraid to touch them for fear of their brittle-looking construction knocking them loose and causing a ruckus.

Why, then, did Mipha remain in here when she could easily escape?

"Gah, you waif!" Revali complained with a muted voice, "Hurry up!"

Link left Mipha's motivations to her alone as he reached for his note and pencil. Much as King Dorephan had suggested his wife had been the wise one, Link knew of the wisdom of this other half of his, even if it were more conniving in nature, and kept to his plan, sliding the materials through the window, with only a gentle *_click_* denoting the pencil hitting the floor within.

If only to give Revali some relief, Link made his way off his shoulders, the level of care as he took his holds back upon the wall being immense, and gave a sigh of relief at the completion of the task, revealing, "Alright. Now we just wait for a reply."

At least, he had hoped, given Mipha's understanding of written Hylian. A sour image crossed his mind of the message not even being relayed, despite his careful attempt and leaving the note as basic in script as possible.

Revali took one hand at a time from the rock face, clearing off each shoulder as he mumbled to himself in upset, despising the insatiable need to preen himself while he was quite unable to do so.

"I'll have to get back up there once she has a reply, you know."

The Rito shot him a stare, "Oh, lovely. More outstanding news."

Link rolled his eyes, shaking his head, "I set out an outline of the plan we set before coming here. Hopefully she likes it; we'll need her for a few things, but- These bars are not even stalwart; we _were_ afraid a prison break would be necessary, but she could easily sneak out."

"Fantastic," Revali seethed with sarcasm before returning to his normal, frustrated tone, "So long as this can all be done soon. I'm not keen on sitting around too long waiting for others to fall into place."

Sighing, Link groaned, "I noticed."

"Had you such potential you would understand. Same as if you'd had such magnificent plumage upon your body; you'd not think twice about the possibility of it being distressed in any way."

Revali examined him with a critiquing glance, "What is it about you Hylians that your females prize?"

"What?" Link asked with confusion.

The Rito shook his head from side to side in a tempestuous series of motions, stopping only after each feather above his shoulders had left their well-preened position and had fluffled up into more of a presentation of plumage, Revali noting plainly, "Rito females prize a male's ability to present their semiplume feathers, particularly if the carry an attractive coloration. Ruining my feathers would be like-"

His lips curved inward in consideration, "If I had yanked your ears out until they matched your females'."

Scoffing before losing himself to an incredulous chuckle, Link eyed Revali with narrow eyes, "I'm sorry, what?"

Shrugging, Revali explained, "Your women have longer ears, do they not? Clearly it would not be desirable to find a male with such a feminine trait. How many Rito males do you see strutting around with the drab plumage of a female?"

"Okay, first," Link explained, "That's ridiculous. Two, I've seen, maybe, five Rito up close in my life, excluding you."

Revali shook his head, "You are missing out then. Simply ask next time; we Rito are proud to display our magnificent barbs- there is no impolite setting."

"I will get _right_ on that," Link noted sarcastically, "I'm sure we'll just-"

*click*

The two looked up to find the pencil fluttering through the air overtop of them before careening downward, with no chance for either of them to snatch it out of the air. They shared inquirous glances, wondering why Mipha had tossed it out; however, recognizing the incoming pattern, they immediately returned to watching the window just as the scrunched up slip of paper began sailing forth from beyond the stone window, nowhere near the arm's length of either man.

Link watched in near slow motion as the entire purpose of this vertical excursion fell into the cold air, sailing down toward the water-filled basin below until it finally escaped his view, having disappeared into the darkness.

A jolt at his chest.

He turned to find Revali yanking the rope from his belt, angrily glancing toward Link before bragging, "Watch and learn, Hylian."

With that, Revali leapt free from the rock face, appearing stationary within the air for but a brief moment as his body spun downward, gravity tugging him into gradual motion as his lithe body shot downward, leaving Link along atop the halfway point of the mountain. He peered over his shoulder as best he could, following Revali's silhouette as the Rito launched toward the stray slip of paper, a sigh of relief escaping Link as Revali shot up toward the sky at seemingly the last moment, hopefully with the paper in tow.

Link returned his attention to his present situation, nodding to himself as he waited for Revali to return, keeping an eye on his feet to ensure their solid footing. He pulled a hand free at a time, working his fingers to keep his blood flowing, all while remaining sure to keep his hips against the cliff face. After another few moments of silence, he looked over his shoulder once again, though this time, as he surveyed the sky, there wasn't a trace of Revali in the darkness.

A sour, curdling nausea found itself within his gut as Link shut his eyes, groaning to himself quietly as he recognized his fate, at least for the next hour or so. Slowly, carefully, he made his descent, cursing that bird-man with his every exhale.

"Son of a cuckoo," he muttered to himself, shaking his head with disappointment.

* * *

By the time Link had sauntered back, the mood within the curtained room had become a lot more jovial than he had remembered it being. Through strained eyes, he attempted to focus on what was going on inside, though beyond the obvious silhouette of Daruk wildly gesticulating within the shroud, Link couldn't make heads or tails about what he had missed. The sudden apprehension and uncertainty of Revali (had he taken off entirely for some reason?) seemed to be unwarranted; something must've happened to lighten the mood somewhat. Perhaps Mipha had learned something and recited as such within the note?

As he slid his feet, a tiny crack emerged within the end of the curtain, Link watching it curiously as it flew shut, only for Zelda to burst out with a pep in her step, hurrying to meet Link, who was clearly in need of rest.

"Link!" she began in exuberant greeting, though her mood quickly fell upon reaching him, "…are you alright?"

He shook his head, "Never better. at least in terms of my preparedness for bed. Revali made it back here with Mipha's letter, right?"

Smiling brightly, Zelda nodded, "Yes!"

A dip in her emotions once again as her brow coiled in worry, "Revali said he went to snatch it and before he could return and 'valiantly' help you descend, you rejected his help numerous times."

"That," Link sighed drolly, "Was a lie."

"I figured there was some embellishment on his part," she smiled lightly, "I couldn't do much, though, but hope for your safe return. I kept peeking out the curtain until a you came back."

Nodding to approve her devotion, Link exhaustedly ran fingers across his eyes, "Nothing a little-"

He paused at the sudden touch of Zelda patting his forearm, opening his eyes to find her smiling weakly, "Nothing a month-long trip with me couldn't prepare you for, huh?"

"I didn't mean that," Link groaned.

Still persisting, Zelda half-shrugged, "I know I treated you poorly. Worse than much of anything Revali could do. But that's why I feel bad; you've been through enough within my company- I hate to continue the _tradition_."

His eyes piercing her wayward glance, Link flatly commented, "You mean a tradition of servitude? You left me for dead down in Faron, yet I'd still accept that over some of the rule exerted by your ancestors."

Zelda let a wry smirk upon her face before muttering, "I didn't leave you for _dead_."

"Could've fooled me," Link breathed a lighthearted sigh before asking, "What did Mipha say?"

Sliding the crumpled bit of parchment paper from her pocket, Zelda began, "You know, you better be happy I like you two. Revali returned and I had to fight both Urbosa and Daruk to retrieve it first so that they wouldn't find out. It wasn't too bad, though, but nothing that wouldn't conceal her novice status."

Handing off the paper to Link, she crossed her arms, "Besically, our plan is officially null and voided. Mipha assured us that she had a plan to carry out. All she said was to leave the fake sword in the throne room after her father retired for the night, which we did before your return."

Nodding in acknowledgement, Link spoke up, "Not bad scripting at all, considering."

Zelda smirked, "You didn't hear a word I said, huh, teach?"

"Yeah, you left the sword in the throne room. You didn't happen to catch the sight of Dorephan retiring, did you?"

Her smirk melting into one of mischievous elation, Zelda replied, "I begged Urbosa to take me with her just so I could see."

Then, quickly enough, her face fell to confusion, "Not what I would have expected."

"Nope," Link confirmed, pulling the parchment paper up closer to his face, "What is this tear?"

Zelda answered wryly, "Oh, that. I kind of had to improvise, juuust in case the letter got to one of the others…"

Worry ran up Link's spine as his eyes jumped toward Zelda, her shoulders spinning back and forth like a schoolgirl as she stuck her tongue out, "I bet you wanna know why."

"Just a little," he sighed, "She is-"

He averted his eyes under Zelda's newly intense stare, her voice pinging out in a teasing note, "Say iiit."

Link frowned, "Or you could just show me the note."

A burst of exasperation left Zelda disguised as a groan as she reached into her pocket to retrieve the other piece, "You're no fun."

"I never claimed to be," he affirmed quite easily, taking the note and reading it amidst Zelda's increasingly warm stare.

Reading it, and re-reading it, Link felt his lips tug with uncertainty over what to say, especially with Zelda's eyes poking holes through his skull. His own eyes scrolled across the paper in affirmation over the messy handwriting that conveyed a message that was so mis-written, yet so indelibly 'Mipha', even if its meaning held so many differing layers of understanding.

"I live yoo," Link finally spoke up.

Zelda squealed, "I had no idea you two were _that_ close!"

"I-" Link came to a halt, thinking of how he didn't exactly think such a phrase was necessary just yet, but then…given what may just transpire over the course of tomorrow, perhaps this wasn't merely a quick scrolling of affection.

What if Mipha expected it to be a goodbye?

"I think you two are adorable together," Zelda declared with a smile, "It's taboo, and kind of weird- and there's that whole royalty thing- but seriously, adorable!"

A sudden embrace from her left Link speechless as she rocked the two of them back and forth with childlike obliviousness, murmuring lightly, "Given all those bad times when we first met- It's so nice that we can share secrets like this, y'know?"

"I don't think this was a secret given to you freely," Link noted pithily.

"I know, but still. I count it," Zelda smiled.

Given their history, Link figured he could allow such a thing as an embrace from his liege, especially since her grasp allowed him a moment's respite from fully relying on his own ability to stand.

Still, his thoughts remained upon Mipha, and what she might have meant by her message. What dread might have been going through her mind as she sat in that dark enclosure?

Should he have told her, as well, that he loved her?

Would there even be another chance to do so?


	32. The Fateful Stranding of Ocean Zora

_**A/N: I apologize for the rushed chapter. I'm torn between understanding that people don't read fan-fiction for original characters, but at the same time, BotW leaves us with VERY little in terms of in-game villainy, so I have to conjure antagonists up, but I ALSO don't want them to just be nothing-characters who are just there; I'd like to flesh them out **_**somewhat**_**. **_

_**So I wanted it all condensed into this single chapter, just so it's easy to skip if you'd like to return to the Champions in the next chapter, where this whole conflict will more than likely be resolved :)**_

* * *

Dolare stared at the flame that sat flicker atop the candlelit desk that had once been used to sign in prisoners in this cell, but much like the rest of the small space, it had become rather dilapidated by now, leaving the man with a noticeably dreadful appearance at the very thought of being here. With each pang of dripping water that hit the floor, his ears rang in unsettled anxiety; he'd spent enough of his early life in much the same conditions, and never would have wished upon his worst enemy the same outcome.

That his enemy now resided here, Lady Mipha, Peincess of the Zora, was more indicative of the plot hatched, not by him, but by his second, Akis, the fiercely loyal, silver-tongued man who had assembled this band of Niq around the central figure of Dolare. His ability to win over crowds had started the Niq, and now, it threatened the stability of Zora's Domain itself, although, as Dolare ran a couple of fingers along his scar, he remembered his own addition to the plan.

His fingers across the scar tissue sent shivers down his spine. Never before had he felt such pain, and yet, he hadn't recalled a moment more close to Akis. The two men had shared more than their time and love, after all. Even that scar, the two had shared far more darker moments alongside one another.

Dolare peered at the candle with scrutinizing eyes, focusing greatly upon the dancing flame, if only to prevent his vision from wandering along those stone walls that seemed to encase the darkest of evils within their darkened façade. He wished Akis would return soon, but knew his work was important.

The two men had always been diametrically opposed, with Dolare retaining an almost crippling attitude of introversion, while Akis was the scrappy, resourceful one that had 'adopted' Dolare as children. Raised along the coasts of south-eastern Hyrule, nobody had known of the crimson scales of royalty, and to them, such an affliction upon Dolare's scales was a source of degradation, and without Akis' intervention early on, Dolare might have met the bottom of the sea before his first decade.

As they aged, they remained much the same, though Dolare's appearance offered the two little, so long as they remained beyond the bountiful reaches of Hyrule proper. Dolare wore sickness upon his body, and by association, Akis had caught "the red" as the ocean Zora had referred to it.

The plan came soon after stories of Zora's Domain, and indeed, Zoras upon the land, came to the two's ears. So reviled were these land-walkers; tales of their very existence were sparse at best, but the more Akis head, the more Akis grew entranced. Then, on a chance meeting with a pilgrim elder, came the tale of the Zora Royalty who wore red scales, which shimmered in lithe strands across the rivers of Hyrule.

It took Akis only the briefest of seconds to recognize the resemblance within Dolare. Akis' eyes had caught him in such serenity only a few times, and yet, they had burned and impressed upon their mind so clearly.

The plan was set. They would spread tales upon the land, much in the same way those tales had once affected them, with Akis' natural penchant for oratory proving a reliable tool. Where they had no leverage beyond Dolare's scales, they sought even further evidence to be fabricated. Those stories were molded into a cult of sorts- one so easily accepted, yet so tied to good will that it would merely be innocuous.

Then the plan to forge upon Dolare's body a scar so magnificent that it would bend the eyes of even the most fervent follower of the Royals. A tactic so devious, so sure to win them freedom from the poverty, the unhindered ferocity of life among the ocean. They both wore scars, ghastly ones, yet this one would overshadow all the others.

With years of trust, and Akis' experiences skewing whales, knowing where to aim his dagger, he plummeted the knife deep into Dolare's side, battling not only this man's muscles and sinewy skin, but also the pitiful wails, the tears, the cries of anguish that overflowed from a man so able to withstand such emotion. Akis', themselves, couldn't bear to watch, their eyes locking only with Dolare's as the dagger so finely cleaved into his side, that night proving only of tremendous trauma, and yet, of such unrelenting devotion to their relationship.

For months, Dolare recovered; given their scales, such deep cuts were not usual, and as a result, Zoras weren't particularly resilient toward such wounds. Still, Dolare healed, slowly but surely, forcing Akis to wander about for food for the two of them; yet, after Dolare had recovered, it became Akis' time for recovery.

For while Akis fell in love as Dolare allowed his body to be torn into, if only to please Akis and lend credence to his wild ambitions, Dolare first fell in love as Akis willingly surrendered himself to only one man. Him. within the throes of the worst pain that could befall a Zora of Akis' lineage.

That care forced such a swell of affection upon Akis that, while born and raised female, his body began to alternate, the process of their scales being shed, torn free from his body as it contorted, molded, changed in ways Akis hadn't ever known, leaving them with such misery that Dolare's eyes would fall with combatted tears as Akis wailed, shaking back and forth, hoping for it all to end before, finally, Akis came about with such pristine skin between magnificent scales, becoming far more beauteous to Dolare now unscarred.

Their past, carved upon their bodies in the shapes of scars, ever-present reminders of all that tormented them, that kept them from lives absent from pain; that past no longer resided upon Akis' scales, leaving Dolare with symbolism all too clear as the two began their trek toward Zora's Domain.

Lost in his memories, Dolare bolted to attention as Akis stepped into the cavernous prison area, the newcomer's foot sliding across the floor with an appalled groan, trying to remove some octorok gel from between his toes.

"Gah! This temperate climate will be the death of me," he complained, shaking his head before noticing Dolare's proximity, smiling as his hands clasped together, "They didn't rough her up, did they?"

Dolare shook his head, eyes tinged with sorrow.

Akis caught his glance, softening his voice as he stepped into the cavern-like landscape, "Good, good. Nobody is our enemy here, so- Look at you."

He strode closer to Dolare, reaching up to fix his unkempt cloak, "This change in climate will have us both in deep if we're not careful, I told you."

"I know," Dolare answered with a deep voice, echoing listlessly as he frowned.

Akis nodded knowingly, pulling the thin fabric down to better cover the man's body, "All for the while, I suppose; we will have to acclimatize sooner than later. I spoke to a few Zora- They're apprehensive, but their uncertainty seems to rest within our favor. So long as we keep up the momentum we have seized."

A knowing grin spread across his face, his attention waning from their mission as he noticed Dolare's endless stare, so lost in though as he was, eliciting a small chuckle from Akis, "You're cute when you pretend that I'm not needed to care for you."

Dolare's eyes lit up behind narrowed slits, "I'll have you know-"

"That you'd be dead without me peering over your shoulder?" Akis teased with a wry twinge to his voice, "Just now; you'd have a cold by tomorrow had I not fixed your cloak."

Considering his desire to simply concede the point, Dolare instead turned away, which only answered Akis' accusation all the same, forcing the younger of the two to cross his arms, "Not that I mind at all. You've always been lost in your thoughts- in need of somebody to care for you beyond such things."

He reached out to stroke Dolare's arm, smiling, "All the more reason to give you a home where little worry will be needed."

The crimson-scaled man caught Akis' lonesome tone, "Thank you."

"For what?" Akis charged with sincerity, his mind having already left his prior words.

Dolare muttered, "For caring for me when nobody else would."

"Ah, well," Akis shrugged, his hand reaching up to conceal his curving lips, "Such things I find easy."

He examined Dolare's body, so torn and half-broken apart by ravaged scars and torn scales, Mark's of a rugged life amongst the endless ocean. His eyes turned to his own, which had appeared much the same until his transformation required the shedding of his carapace. Now, so pristine were his scales, his body.

"I only wish I've made it easy for _you_," he muttered with indignity, his mind shaking with uncertainty.

Dolare's eyes ran along Akis' body, quickly examining those scales that so well represented a new beginning for the two of them, before breathlessly answering, "Perhaps you've made it _too_ easy for me."

Scoffing lightly at such an assertion, Akis turned away to hide an embarrassed smirk, leaving Dolare to confirm, "I promised you. I wouldn't allow anything to bring damage to your scales."

He ran a thumb along the ugly scar that lined his side, "I'll carry all of our scars from now on."

Akis gave a sidelong glance, "It's a good thing I adore your rough hewn form."

"That's beside the point," Dolare grumbled as he lowered his head, undoing the satchel from his wait, "I'm going to speak with the Princess again. See if I can't convince her to join our cause. Maybe some food will earn us some trust."

"T'would certainly help," Akis nodded, stepping away lightly, "I'll keep watch then. Helor and the others are keeping watch for any unforeseen incidents that might come to pass."

Dolare nodded before stepping toward the door to the cavernous prison, coming to a halt as he peered toward Akis from over his shoulder, watching his sauntering gait, cocksure as it was, as he leaned into the wall to begin his watch, forcing Dolare to smirk.

"It's a good thing I adore your new form as much as the last," Dolare offered in an attempt to leave his lover lost in thought without him.

Watching for a moment to find Akis' head tilting down to once again conceal his nerves, Dolare stepped into the prison with a careful step, shutting the door behind him. He was immediately greeted by the sickly humid air that seemed to cling to his skin, the pitter-patter of drops of water raining from the ceiling that echoed in impatient cacophony.

His immediate reaction was to frown. He was not in favor of this particular part of the plan, and now seeing the horrid conditions of the prison, his stomach churned further. He had hoped for a more diplomatic approach, perhaps in a bid to win favor and shelter from these Zoras of the land, but Akis had long been sure, convinced, at that, that these far more noble and prestigious beings would never accept the filthy vermin of the ocean. Even as they arrived, noticing how well-kept these Zoras beneath their armor, Dolare couldn't help but think that Akis may yet be correct.

Still, it hurt to know they were holding anybody, much less a Princess, in such squalor.

As he came to her prison cell, Dolare's eyes shrunk in examination, finding Mipba where he had last left her. She seemed so dignified in contrast to his own red scales; even beyond her lithe, feminine shape, her scales were without imperfection, while Dolare wore jagged, ugly things, well built for the rough existence beneath the sea, but they did little for appearances nonetheless.

"Princess," arose his thickeningly deep voice that seemed to reverberate the very walls surrounding the two of them.

Mipha didn't move beyond her eyes peering upward toward him, a stern glance shooting toward him. Despite his sorrowful imprisonment of this innocent being, Dolare couldn't help but be curious. From the tales relayed by Akis, these Zora knew nothing of hardship; their ornate, self-sustaining home said it all. Yet this little thing eyed him with the solemn viciousness of a caged animal, waiting for any split second of an opening.

"Do you mean to threaten me?" Dolare's voice bellowed evenly, "Even as you're sitting there, caged?"

Mipha replied with a voice as still as lake water, "Come in here and we'll see how threatening I can become."

Dolare grinned at her ferocity, a trait he himself wished he'd had himself, "I told Pakor that your imprisonment was to keep them out as much as it was to keep you in. I'm afraid their tales of you have become rather…"

He cleared his throat, "Unbecoming, I'll put it that way. I dread the thought of one of them getting any ideas."

Mipha challenged, still with a deadpan voice, "So you just came here just to share with me this disturbing information?"

"No," the man shook his head dismissively, "I brought you a meal. We can't have you withering away in here, can we?"

Mipha's brow furrowed, "_I_ can."

Such determined defiance forced the man to run a hand along his face in thought, "If you thought that information a second ago was worrisome- I _do_ know ways to get you to eat. Do not mistake my kindness for weakness."

Scoffing, Mipha shook her head, "Sorry, I missed out on your kindness _somewhere_ between your friend's speech and my kidnapping."

"Only to keep you safe, Princess, I assure you," the man nodded, his voice still carrying no emotion, "I sat around those bonfires with my band for decades, all of them so loyal. We'd all scraped through the world to survive; but Akis knew they'd need something to keep them going. So he regaled them with stories of Zora's Domain, the mighty mountains of Lanayru; how better everything would be when we finally returned home. After so long, however, even the strongest loyalties need be stoked."

The man's eyes narrowed, the ridge between his eyes bowing ever so slightly in a demonstration of how serious he was, "What my men have said about what they would do to you, the Princess of the Zora, once our return had occurred… You'd _best_ accept my generosity, before I decide to allow _them_ to decide how best to treat you."

He reached a hand through the grating of the cell door and dropped a Hylian carp to the ground with a _WHAP_, the creature still flopping around only weakly to signal its freshness, "I plan on creating a brighter future for _our_ people- not just _my_ people, but all of us Zora. Perhaps, soon enough, you'll understand the advantages of taking to me more kindly."

The man turned his head down the hallway as if to check on something before returning his attention toward Mipha, "Let's just hope I don't have to bring my Niq in here to convince you just how respectful _I_ am in comparison."

Dolare nodded his head toward her, as if in reaction to her title as Princess rather than her personage, before turning to leave, shaking his head. He seemed to have made the situation worse, he thought, groaning to himself while massaging his face. Stepping toward the doorway to the prison, Dolare reached out to make his exit, just about to-

"Hey."

Dolare came to an abrupt halt, returning his gaze toward the prison before strolling backward, his curiosity stinging the back of his mind.

"What," he spoke less as a question than an order.

Mipha stood up, the first movement he had seen her make, an uncertain expression resting upon her face as she crossed her arms, speaking with soft authority, "What do you fancy yourself? A god, like the Niq say?"

A nervous chuckle left Dolare as he lowered his head, "God or not, my intentions remain the same."

"But you speak of tales and legends of this land," Mipha reminded, "Surely you came to take the Master Sword and prove your worth to the whole of Zorana."

Dolare's eyes narrowed, the man desperately clinging onto his air of supremacy while his mind began to churn with confusion at her words, hoping for her to continue so that he would be unable to prove his uncertainty with his words.

Sure enough, Mipha continued, "Did you not notice it within the throne room? It might be tucked away, but-"

Her lips turned with frightful concern, "-only those worthy can wield. For as long as I could remember, my father had handled it, yet-"

Mipha's eyes wandered up toward Dolare, "He's been unable to these last few moons. I've wracked my brain thinking of why that might be, but- Perhaps-"

She came to a full stop, holding just enough out there for Dolare to reel in on his own, the man's brow having furrowed at her words. As if having something to hide, Mipha suddenly spun away, leaving all the crumbs for Dolare to pick up as she allowed a subtle grin upon her face now that she was beyond his view.

Without a word, Dolare stepped away, rolling away as though had piqued his interest. He had heard her words, and yet, he knew better than to take her at such things. He skulked toward the door slowly, chewing his tongue as he thought, finally exiting back into Akis' view.

"My love, what's wrong?" Akis wondered, immediately noting the infinite worlds Dolare's mind was navigating at that moment.

Dolare sighed, "Nothing, just- In all those tales you picked up- Did something called the Master Sword ever come up?"

Turning to face Dolare, Akis' forehead wrinkled in thought as his eyes wandered, "I believe so… Was it that sword that cannot be tamed by just anyone?"

With a look of fright at Mipha's words having been conformed, Dolare injected a sharp breath, "That-!"

In a haste, he strode toward Akis, his rapid movement leaving him breathless, "It's there. In the throne room."

"What?"

"The sword! It-! She just said-!"

"She speaks lies, Dolare," Akis shrugged, "She's simply trying to make fools of us."

"No, no," Dolare asserted, "She knows I'm just an ocean whelp! She would have no reason to lie to _me_ in such a way! I know nothing of swords or of magic, or-"

An air of worry grew upon his words, "She- She knows I'm nothing but a stupid ocean bar-"

Akis took a sharp hold of Dolare's arm, pulling him in close with a forceful tug that silenced the man, leaving Akis to speak in whispers, "You fell in love with me. You're not stupid, you're not worthless."

He reached a hand up to stroke Dolare's face, "You're worth everything to me."

Dolare took in a moment's breath as Akis left his cheek, the younger man groaning, "Look, if you want to go do your digging, that is fine by me. I need to rest after today's events, so I'll hang back until Avoh returns, okay?"

"Okay," Dolare finished with a sigh, his concerned frown turning slightly upward as he confirmed, "Don't wait up."

"When have I ever," Akis teased, "Go. Have your fun."

Dolare accepted the command with a listless smile before nodding and starting off back down the winding cliff path back to Zora's Domain.

* * *

The moon now cradled high up in the night sky, Zora's Domain was all but silent as its denizens retired for the night, retreating to the basin below to sleep, leaving only the children and their caretakers atop the Domain's sheen-covered home atop the waters, resting in the far more manageable waters of the tidepools. Aside from any visitors, of course, this left the whole of Zorana in a whispered existence, a far cry from the constant hustle and bustle of the Hylians and Gorons, and even the Rito when the mood would strike them to remain awake this late into the evening. For the Gerudo, too, this became the only possible time for many of their projects, leaving the Zora as the sole settlement where everything would come to a pause.

This made for a rather gentle time in these parts, albeit with an uneasy air, particularly for visitors. While it made Dolare's task easier, it also left him with those same nerves that often accompanied traders who stayed for the night, only to be left alone to their own devices. For a newcomer such as himself, it was a dissonant oddity compared to life beyond the shores, where, at any moment, any larger being could be eying you for a meal. This silence, save for the gentle beating of the water's heartbeat as waterfalls fell into pools, allowed contemplation that might have been utterly foreign to Dolare just weeks earlier.

Among the moonlit avenues of ramparts, he found his way to the throne room, its doors held open in preparation for Dorephan's return in the morning, though now, it seemed an ironic twist, now that Dolare strolled in through its threshold, his eyes barely aiming toward the throne as he gave a cursory glance along the room's expanse, hunting for that sword.

There it was.

His lips curled as he slowed, his feet nearly sliding along the floor as he reverently approached the weapon, its shape gleaming in the moonlight as if to signify its importance. His eyes fell, unable to glance at it for too long, lest the fear within him were to swell to magnanimous proportions.

But what had he to fear?

The thought confused him. He lifted his gaze to stare upon the sword, but not long after, his arms began to tremble. What if he were to fail? What if, for all their sacrifices; for all the trials that had now marked his body in unending disgust- What if he were to fail?

But then, those trials had given Dolare a man for more beautiful than he had any right to gaze upon.

A courageous sigh escaped him as he stepped toward the sword which sat unsheathed atop the King's desk, his hand reaching out, pausing for a moment's tremble above its handle. Dolare bit his lip as his breaths became unkiltered, shaking, waving in the cool air.

What if it worked?

He tasted blood as his fangs bit ever more fervently into his lip, finally dropping his open palm to take the sword and lift it, his eyes blowing open wide in terror as he stepped backward, tossing the sword away before his fright caused him to trip backward, slamming into the ground and pushing himself further away in a horrified distress that gradually waned as he distanced himself. His breaths were rushed in impending dread, a choking swallow allowing him to gain some semblance of where he currently was.

What if, after all Akis had done for him, he would ultimately fail?

What if these crimson scales were a curse, just as everybody had once said?

His eyes locked upon the sword laying across the room, Dolare finally allowed himself to blink while his breaths steadied, examining the room further before scurrying to his feet. He stared at the sword, his mind churning up a plague of fear, self-consciousness, and crippling anxiety.

What if, as weak as Akis' plan to conquer this Domain was, his hold on Akis was just as weak. What if this plan were the only thing keeping the two of them bound together?

He turned away, terrified as ever as he stepped out from the throne room, the power that had singed his hand leaving him wishing they had never left the ocean. The two of them had each other then; now, they had the gods of Hyrule to contend with as well.

They had their fates.


	33. Ever-Loose Strands of Fate

_**A/N: Once again, I'm here to apologize for how poor my action scenes are. Hopefully it isn't too difficult to read!**_

* * *

Zelda and Urbosa stood atop the highest tier of the Domain, looking out below upon the small gathering of Zora that had come to meet Dolare and Akis as they strolled along the mighty bridge that joined the Domain to the mainland. Just in case, in the event that something were to go wrong, Urbosa had directed the Champions to split up, though only with Link's ultimatum that the Gerudo would remain at Zelda's side. To the southern end, Daruk kept watch over the affair while Revali stood in tentative watch from the north, all three positions crowded around by Zora whose curiosity had gotten the best of them.

At the vestibular platform into the Domain, Link stood with a stoic posture among the densest collection of Zora, most of them followers of the Niq themselves, awaiting their champion, the Sundered Scale. Link's eyes flickered alight at the notice of Mipha joining the two men, her expression far less furious than he might have thought.

"Good," Zelda woke up quietly to Urbosa, "They brought Mipha with them. Far less to worry about if we're all nearby."

Urbosa eyed the young Princess, "You sure? She's not pissed off or anything. They don't even have her bound."

"Hopefully that's part of her plan," Zelda wondered aloud, "Feigning camaraderie. All the better to goad them into our plot."

With a worried frown, Urbosa sighed, "Quite the devious little Princess, aren't we?"

"Hey now. I _had_ to be devious to escape my bedtimes," Zelda confided with a smirk, "In any case, so far as I can surmise, this is going according to- well, maybe not according to _plan_, but I wouldn't exactly expect this group of Champions to do much of anything in the traditional sense."

"Perhaps that is for the best," Urbosa smirked, crossing her arms as the Zora crowd below began to cheer, all what the Zora upon the ramparts lurched forward in curious expectation.

Akis nodded as the three of them arrived, Mipha's inclusion seeming to gain something akin to trust among many of the Zora. Still, Link remained skeptical, his eyes not leaving Mipha's form even at a sudden disturbance approaching him from behind.

"Gah- Get-! Get back!" grumbled Zevan as he made it to Link's side amidst the bustling crowd surrounding the two of them, "Hylian! Link!"

He peered down toward the sword in Link's hand, held by its sheath at his side, though its presence compelled Zevan to ask, "What're you thinking?"

"Nothing what you yourself are thinking," Link smirked, "Don't worry, there's a plan."

Zevan reached up to better adjust his armor that had gone eschew amongst the crowd, "I expected nothing less from a Royal Knight. So what is it?"

Link shook his head, "How am I supposed to trust you?"

"Oh come on; we've traded blows," Zevan shot back with a bite, offended by Link's insinuation of mistrust, "Surely you know that counts for much amongst us Zora."

Grinning almost playfully, Link assured him, "Don't worry, I know. Just watch. It will become apparent soon enough."

Uninspired, Zevan sighed before returning to watch Mipha and the other two Niq approaching, "I mustered what I could of our guard beyond those guarding the King and the river. My father is amongst us somewhere, but these platforms weren't exactly meant for large crowds. We spend half our lives in the water for a reason, after all."

He continued, "Any reason Lady Mipha is with them?"

"They kidnapped her."

"By the gods!" Zevan declared in shock, "Why weren't we alerted?!"

Link gave him a knowing glance, which seemed to satisfy Zevan somewhat, until Link finished, "She can handle it."

"I do not doubt you, knight, but I still-!" Zevan was halted by Akis' voice breaking the air surrounding the crowd.

His voice roared, "Make way for your new King! Dolare, the Sundered Scale!"

Knowing his task, Link's eyes fixed upon Dolare, the crimson-scaled man appearing far more subdued now that Akis took the reigns. He seemed almost indignant, Link thought; as if he wished not to be there.

The three approached with a regal gait, Mipha's eyes lighting up as she caught Link's eyes in the crowd, which had slowly begun to break apart to form a pathway for the two Niq, tearing down the middle like a paper being torn in two, until it stopped at the feet of Link.

Akis' eyes narrowed with frustration as he stepped closer, "You! Hylian!"

As if recognizing the situation, Akis gave a ghastly sigh, "Look, I know these matters mean little to your people, yet I politely ask that you step free from our path."

Link remained still.

Lips turning in upset contours, Akis crossed his arms, "You wish this to be the first blight upon Dolare's reign? Surely you jest, Hylian."

"Surely I don't," Link muttered.

Akis spun around to return to Dolare, complaining under his breath before coming to a stop, wincing as he noticed Dolare's eyes. Intensely frightened were they, forcing Akis to return to Link to find what had so feverishly taken Dolare's attention.

As if in presentation, Link raised the Sword, "I believe you've heard of it. The Master Sword."

Gasps and murmurs echoed throughout the crowd. Despite the history of bloodshed between the two peoples, the Zora knew all to well the power of such a relic of the Hylians. It had earned its respect among their annals of history, and now, it commanded their attention.

"Allow me to ask for all the Zora of this Domain," Link spoke, his spine shivering at the gravitas of such a statement, "Prove beyond your words and bodies that you are worthy."

Akis scoffed, his lips coiling into a haphazard smirk as his raised his arms in a shrug, "Worth? You speak of worth? Where was Dolare's worth when your King, Dorephan, plunged a dagger into his side?"

Mipha cringed at yet another slight toward her father, earning her a sorrowful, sidelong glance from Dolare.

"Little more than words," Link assured, "Prove your worth among those veins of fate that run through each and every one of us."

Readying himself to further retort this Hylian whelp, Akis stepped forward, only to be stopped by Dolare, whose hand took his shoulder, pulling him back.

"What?!" Akis whispered in tumultuous breath.

Dolare shook his head, "No more pain, please. Let's just- finish this."

His eyes turning soft in realization, Akis was left listless as Dolare pulled in front of him toward Link, smiling, "As you said. You love me. I'll never be worth more than I am now."

Akis hastily shot back, still quiet, "D- Dolare!"

"I took it last night," Dolare assured with a knowing smile, "You've left me far too proud of you for me to not return the favor. You promised us a home, and now- I can actually take it for us."

Caught between some adoration and distress, Akis could only release a pressured sigh as he dropped his head, signaling his subdued stance, allowing Dolare to turn his attention toward Link. The two locked eyes with an intensity between them, Dolare speaking with feigned confidence, having been so disheartened the night before as a result of this relic.

"It seems to have chosen _you_," Dolare noted, as if ascertaining whether the Sword could even have multiple wielders.

Link cocked his head to the side, "Perhaps I'm but a messenger."

Dolare's brow narrow determinately, stepping ever closer as, above this heavy atmosphere, Urbosa and Zelda watched with bated breath. The Gerudo noticed the Zora's strides failing to break, or even slow, gaining upon Link with a think determination that soon began to rattle her.

"What if-" she slowed to a stop before Zelda could interrupt her.

"He won't," Zelda confirmed.

Urbosa eyed her, "I know, but-"

"He won't," Zelda repeated, her voice growing listless as her hands closed into fists, "He can't…"

Urbosa caught only a short, uncertain glance toward Zelda before returning to find Dolare just within arms length of Link before having stopped. His eyes aimed like venomous fangs into Link's own, Dolare twisted his lips with a final burst of confidence before throwing his hand forward to grasp the Sword.

Murmurs erupted from the crowd. Dolare's eyes widened in shock, his head darting low to find his hand just beyond reach of the Sword's handle, leaving his muscles tightening as he thrust his arm against an invisible vice holding him back.

"Goddess…" Zevan shuddered, realizing how close that man had come to this goal.

Dolare's eyes immediately darted back up toward Link, whose stoic face had tightened- constructed into a look of determination not yet tempered into anger, "Got you."

Behind them, Akis' eyes deepened in realization. He whipped his head up toward the higher platform before nodding with a seething frown.

"Helor!" he cried.

Link jolted into action, realizing what was about to transpire, but before he could react, a massive footstep rang out behind him, forcing him to spin around, but at that moment, Dolare gave a swift kick into Link's gut, sending him not only flying backwards, but releasing the Master Sword, which fell to the platform below with a _thud_.

Link hurried to his feet, but a giant pair of hands took his shoulders and threw him to the side, his eyes just catching the visage of the massive brute that had accompanied the Niq. The crowd immediately began to disperse at the sight of incited violence at the hands of such a goliath, leaving Zevan to strike up his trident toward Helor with a rallying cry.

"I order you to-!"

Helor grinned happily as he took Zevan's trident and wrung it from his hands, tossing it aside before taking a quick moment to slam a fist into Zevan's chest, knocking him back with a vehement chuckle.

"Puny Zora," Helor laughed, catching Mipha wrestling with Akis before rushing to help, "Akis! I'll-!"

Stopping him in his tracks, Link had crashed his knight's sword into the giant's side with a whopping swing, only for the weapon to reverberate away, deflecting forcefully from the Zora's scaly hide. Helor only chuckled before swinging his hand, knocking the sword free from Link's grasp before directing his massive punch from earlier into Link's shoulder, sending him toppling backward atop the slippery surface beneath his feet.

Above the battle, Zelda gasped with worry as Urbosa leapt into action, spinning around to make her way down into the fray, "Stay here! I'll-!"

Joining the Gerudo in a whip around to discover what had halted Urbosa's progression, Zelda's eyes widened at the sight of the Niq woman, Avoh, with something resembling a flail in her hand, a hook dangling from its loose end. Urbosa frowned, groaning with dismay.

"It seems a trap was meant for us as well…" Urbosa surmised.

Avoh began swinging the hook end of the flail.

Raising an arm to direct Zelda backward, Urbosa ordered, "Stay back. I've got this."

Avoh flinched with confusion, uttering in a sickishly deep feminine voice, "I've stripped scales larger than you from the largest beasts of the oceans only to allow myself the ability to reach their hide. What makes you think you're any more of a challenge?"

"Because those beasts weren't Gerudo," Urbosa challenged, her occupation of Avoh leaving Zelda to turn and find the others.

Revali was indeed locked into a duel of his own while Mipha took blows toward Akis, leaving Dolare and Helor dealing with Link and Zevan. Her eyes turned to were Daruk had been before the skirmish began, only to find him missing, her eyes leaping along the length of a nearby ramp where a blur of movement was coursing along the rampart.

Link struggled to push himself up beneath the approaching steps of Helor, the brute's laughter unable to rouse Link solely due to the anger swelling up from within. He grit his teeth, catching a glimpse of Dolare checking on a near-unconscious Zevan while the other Zora guards were busy with another pair of the Niq clan.

"NOW comes the fun part!" Helor laughed, "I wouldn't expect much from you land-dwellers, but I suppose I could take some entertainment from-"

In a massive _SLAM_, Daruk's swirling body went crashing into Helor's side, sending him spattering along the platform, sliding until he dug his own claws into the solid material, a sickening _CREEEEEAK _accompanying the movement as sparks flew wildly. Daruk quickly composed himself as he left his rolling posture, stretching his neck as he slammed a fist into his open palm.

"Ah ha," Helor chuckled with a feral look in his eye, wiping blood from his chin as he pushed himself up, "Big boy wants to play now."

Daruk sneered, "I suppose with _you_, I could find some will to pummel you to the ground."

"Ha!" Helor laughed, "Ditto for ME!"

The two clashed with massive bodies as Link worked his way up to his knee, still reeling as Dolare strode toward him, Zevan's trident in his hand and fury in his eyes.

"You make a fool of me," he started with heated breath, "I make a skewer of you."

Link desperately tried to stand and make a move, but his nerves remained locked from the earlier strike. His eyes bolted from Dolare, to Daruk, lost in his own battle, to Miph-

"LINK!" she cried, having overtaken Akis.

In one swift movement, she bent down mid-stride, taking hold of Link's sword and throwing it like a dart toward him to take advantage of its speed by itself. Link claimed the weapon from the air like a viper, immediately shoving its sharp end into the platform as Dolare struck, Link holding onto the handle with both hands atop the vertical obstacle, now toothed by three sharp edges ready to cut his life short.

Dolare sneered at Link's pained expression, shoving the trident with greater and greater force as Link's teeth shown in resistance. He turned to glance over his shoulder to find the source of the throw, only to find Akis having tackled Mipha to the ground.

"Good. No more intruders," Dolare's eyes winced with determination as he seethed, "There's so much about _my_ existence that I'll allow to be tarnished; but to bring ruin to _him_…"

Link's sword rang out with a piercing screech as the trident shoved it closer, grating along the floor below as Dolare suddenly grinned. Link's eyes opened wide in surprise, but it was too late; Dolare released the trident, leaving Link pushing his sword out against nothing but a phantom, allowing Dolare to whip around, letting loose a fierce kick that slammed into the side of Link's head with a loud _THUD_.

Link slumped over, but remained conscious, if only of the blistering pain, the shrill ringing in his ear as his hand slid across the cold material beneath him. His eyes blurred, catching only the slightest hint of Mipha's shouts of what might have been his name. The next sensation upon him was the feeling of his body sliding across the ground, Dolare muttering to himself with great upset as he yanked Link's body to the platform's edge.

"Bah," Dolare scoffed as he turned Link over, sending his unmoving body plummeting into the basin below as he stood up, whipping his head around to Mipha's cries.

"NO!" she shouted angrily, kicking Akis off of her with intense ferocity, "NO!"

Akis grumbled, "GAH! You petulant little-!"

With the suddenness of a flash of light, a body came flying overtop Mipha, slamming into and launching Akis across the platform and leaving her alone to scurry to her feet with an endless vigor. She eyed Dolare as Revali slid to a stop beside her, turning his foot vertical atop the floor to stretch out his talons.

"Hard little buggers," he complained, "Is there _any_ part of you that is _not_ bolstered to the hardness of steel?!"

Mipha's lips curled with fury, "You could go for the eyes."

Revali turned to Akis and the one he had strategically launched in Mipha's direction to free her, wincing his face as if tasting the idea for a moment while the two returned to their feet.

"Perhaps I might give it a shot," he shrugged, "I'll get these two. Can you get the red one?"

Knowing she was on a time limit, that of mere seconds, Mipha didn't bother replying, simply dashing in Dolare's direction, knowing he was the only thing standing between her and Link. Dolare frowned at her advance, his eyes studying her movement, recognizing her muscles tensing in an attempt at leaping over him. His face sharpened with focus as Mipha did just that, his body jumping in time with hers, much to Mipha's shock, his hand taking hold of her ankle and yanking her from the air as he hit the platform once again, giving a forceful pull that slipped Mipha's legs out from beneath her, sending her head slamming into the ground.

Dolare shook his head, "I truly hate that this had to come to violence."

He watched Mipha's dizzying expression with a cold frown, "Such reckless stupidity… He must be important to you, huh?"

His sighed, his lips curling with dissatisfaction before he began pushing her off as well, "The things we do for the ones we love, I suppose..."

Then, with a final tap of his foot, Mipha went hurtling into the basin below as well.

Link's eyes stung. In some desperate attempt to seek out help, he had forced them open, even as he couldn't move his head. Between his rapid exhaustion and the ringing in his head, especially given the weightless environment, he couldn't even tell which way was up. He simply floated there, ever descending, as his lungs burned for a breath that wasn't ever his to take.

His vision blurred as an aberration appeared a few yards away, the visage of something quite angelic, now that his senses were so strained. He recognized Mipha floating there, her body functioning with much more motion than Link himself were capable. She slowly, yet surely, began spinning slowly in place as if she were hunting for something, albeit without much of her own senses about her.

Link watched in anguish as his lung clutched in his chest. His vision grew dark. Like a ghastly specter, black swirls entered his vision, closing in from within a dark halo that threatened to overtake his vision entirely. He battled with his own body, forcing his every never to resist that primal need for a breath that rang along his spine, in his head.

As his life slipped away, he watched Mipha's futile dance, thinking only of how he wished she would not blame herself, though knowing she would.

His lips constricted as an idea formed in some distant recess of his mind. His vision nearly gone along with his consciousness, with only the faintest breath left within his lungs. He gave it up, if only for one final chance at survival.

"Squeee-!" he sounded like a sonar mere moments before his body forced a breath, yet only finding water to fill his lungs.

At that moment, Link knew his fate was all but sealed.

"-quee…"

Mipha spun around, her eyes and ears ringing violently, yet the inner machinations of some ever-present, deep part of her mind caught the direction of that sound. She zeroed in on its source, forcing her body through the water before coming across Link's lifeless body, her eyes jolting open.

But this was no time for sorrow.

Her body churned into action, her arms hurriedly latching upon his torso as she pushed the two of them up toward the surface with powerfully lithe motions of her legs, the sunlight above breaking through the waters like salvation itself.

Or so she prayed.

They broke through the barrier between water and sky, Mipha immediately seeking out the closest landmass she could navigate to, his breath shaking as she noticed Link's body remaining much as she had found it. Tears welled up in her eyes, yet she battled the waters, pushing Link's body onto a small island near the cliff walls of the basin before crawling up to his side, examining his body with wetted eyes.

"Link..?" she asked weakly, her voice tearing at the seams, "Link..?!"

No reply.

Her eyes ran up and down his body, rushing to recall what she had been taught of these situations as far back as when Link was a child, his troupe of Hylians requiring such knowledge to be held by their hosts for just such an occasion.

She forced her emotions back into her chest, rolling her lips inward with focus as she reached down, placing her hands atop Link's chest.

His lungs.

She nodded, "Okay… Okay…"

Her eyes darted toward his head, watching his motionless lips as she muttered to herself in self-instruction, "Link- Your lungs are filled with water. Like two- Your insides are waterlogged. So-"

Immediately, she bent her torso low, thinking little as she pressed her lips atop his. She reached up, plugging his nose, as her gills fluttered in a vaccumous phenomenon. Her own body released air through her gills, but allowed nothing in, robbing herself of breath as she focused. In that vacuum now shared between them, she could nearly taste how much water was within him, feeling the lack of air pressure within him that she had all but recited to memory during their few kisses.

She pulled away with a sharp breath, placing her hands on where she surmised his lungs might have been, her body furiously beginning to push down onto his chest in hopes of ejected the liquid back through his mouth. Her breaths hastened as she worked in a near-feverish pace, her eyes once again welling up with tears as the effort grew more and more futile, her head shaking in denial.

"No…" she begged, "Goddess, please, no…"

Her voice left in a beleaguered, heart-wrenching plea as she pressed on, refusing to give up. She continued to press into his chest, teardrops raining down upon his torso as she cried, echoing in whimpering whines that left her without any rhyme or reason as to their mean-

*_COUGH_*

Mipha's eyes flew downward as Link's body reflexively threw itself upward, trying to expel the water that had entered him. With a sudden, endless rush of elation, Mipha resisted the urge to simply clutch onto him as tightly as she could muster, choosing instead to help him roll to the side so as to finish the purge of his lungs.

"Link!" she cried out.

He hacked up what he could, his body still fragile from the impacts he had taken, before allowing himself to return to his back, breathing in as deep of breaths as he had ever taken. Blinded by the sunlight above, his eyes winced, only to find the dark visage of Mipha hanging above him in all its angelic prominence.

"Link…" her voice shook, though now with tears of happiness constricting her throat.

Slowly, he reached a hand out to gently stroke whatever part of her he could manage to reach, speaking weakly, "I- What..?"

She shook her head, "It's okay, it's okay, it's okay."

Falling upon his chest, she clutched him as best she could, feeling his body temperature rise now that its internal 'engine' had begun to run properly. She dug her face into his chest, rubbing it back and forth in a loving nuzzle that left her heart bounding for joy. Link could barely move still, though he managed a few words.

"I got this," he spoke up quietly, "They need your help."

Mipha pulled away, having entirely forgotten of the struggle above. She watched him warily, terrified of what might happen to him were she to leave him here, though a faint grin from him put her at ease.

"C'mon; I've got you to live for," he admitted with a boyish tone, "It's gonna take more than drowning to keep me from that life."

Unable to hide a smirk of her own aimed at his bravado, Mipha leaned over to give him a gentle kiss before rising to her feet. She turned, readying herself to leap back into the water, only for Link's hand to weakly grab hold of her ankle, breaking her from that concentration.

"-love you," he spoke up.

Mipha bowed her head, allowing only a faint smile to cross her face before answering back in a voice empty from happiness, "I- love you…"

With that, she leapt into the water, climbing up one of the many waterfalls descending from the Domain having proved to be the quickest route. She left Link to recuperate from his injuries, though Link had left her something for more significant with his words.

Something he had once hoped he had left her when unsure of any reunion between them.

Now he prayed that hadn't become self-fulfilling prophecy.

"GWAAAAR!" Daruk roared as he finally gained the upper hand, clutching his fists together and throwing his entire weight into a mighty blow that sent the brutish Helor careening back along the main bridge into the Domain.

However heroic that might have been, Daruk quickly collapsed to his knees and then onto all fours, exhaustion forcing him to weather beneath the storm of combat. He turned to find Revali in much the same situation, having defeated two of the Niq on his own. Daruk's eyes then caught Urbosa, kneeling in exhaustion as well with her head having fallen low. The Goron returned to find Dolare and Akis muttering amongst themselves before stepping toward the Champions.

"They certainly did their jobs well," Akis groaned, "All we've to do is finish cleaning up the mess. Here-"

He tossed Dolare a spear, "Skewer the woman. She defeated Avoh in combat; I'm not about to bear witness to what she can do."

Dolare did as instructed, stepping toward Urbosa with a tense look on his face, not at all enjoying the task he'd been assigned. Urbosa's body rose and fell in heavy breaths, panting with increased strain as she mustered just the strength to peer up toward the feet that approached her.

"Don't suppose you'll give us a moment?" she asked sarcastically, "Y'know. Make it fair?"

Dolare's lips turned, "This was meant to be a war of attrition from the start. I'm afraid were we to offer such a thing, it would defeat the purpose of our strategy."

"Worth a shot," Urbosa shook her head with a droll expression, "Revali? You got any fight left in you?"

With a pained voice, Revali exclaimed, "As long as my very eyes allow, I will _always_ be prepared to fight!"

"I meant with anything other than your attitude," she clarified with a grin, though it only earned her a coarse stare from the Rito.

"Alright," Urbosa sighed, lifting her torso up with her arms raised, "But I'm still gonna make you work for it."

Frowning, Dolare watched her with a listless expression. He never wanted it to be like this.

"STOP!" came a cry as Zelda nearly slid down the length of the rampart, scurrying to Urbosa's side and falling to her knees, hugging Urbosa tightly as her tear-stained eyes stared up toward Dolare, "Please don't!"

Dolare's brow fell.

"She's all I have," Zelda whimpered, her voice shaking.

His movement impaired, Dolare's eyes froze upon the sight before him, those words echoing far deeper into his mind than he had ever known to be pathways.

Urbosa chuckled, "Zelda, don't. If Link discovers I'm allowing this, he'll bring me back to life only to kill me once again."

"I don't care," Zelda bit back, "You all fight for me; _I'll_ fight for _you_!"

Zelda reached for Link's knight sword that Urbosa had dropped in her exhaustion, standing up with the most erratic posture, both her hands on the hilt aimed toward Dolare.

"Don't you come any closer!" she commanded.

Dolare's eyes remained transfixed, his voice uttering lowly, "He's all _I_ have."

The anger on Zelda's faced melted away as she recognized the hurt upon his own. Her arms trembled under the weight of the sword, flinching as Akis shouted, stomping toward the two of them.

"Dolare!" he cried out, "Do it! or I-!"

In a massive blow, Mipha's body flew through the air, slamming into Akis' body and sending the two skidding across the platform. Mipha leapt toward a nearby trident as Akis recovered, a sudden thrust leaving her fangs shown in fury as Akis dodged, only for Mipha to swing the weapon back around, slamming it into his side, forcing Dolare into action, splitting away from Zelda and Urbosa to dash toward the impending threat to Akis. Mipha let loose a flurry of attacks, newly focused now that she no longer was weighed down by the fate of her own lover; her strikes were meticulous, and wholly foreign to Akis, whose dodges were erratic and unrefined. Her teeth grit angrily with each swing, turning her attention toward Dolare as he flew toward her, a spear aimed in her direction.

"WAH!" Dolare shouted as he struck, leaving Mipha to twirl away, bringing her trident straight down upon the top of his weapon in an attempt to disarm him, but his grip remained true.

He threw her weapon away, giving him an opening that quickly shut as Mipha bounced away, returning her trident in front of her. Akis swirled around the two, attempting to flank Mipha, but a sudden burst of energy allowed Revali to burst toward him, grappling his ankle and sending him toppling to the ground. That motion caught Dolare's attention for but a brief second, allowing Mipha to maneuver her thrust around his spear, sending a prong of her trident into his shoulder, causing him to cry out in pain as he recoiled.

"G- GAH!" Dolare cried out, dropping his spear and collapsing as he held his shoulder.

Mipha stomped toward him, trident outstretched as if going for the kill, though she paused immediately at the wailing voice behind her.

"P-Please!" Akis shouted in a beg, "Please! Just-!"

Mipha's eyes locked upon Dolare's injured form, her grip tightened as she felt Akis crawling to her feet, grasping her ankle as he begged from his prostrated position, "Don't-… Let him go. Please."

"Akis…"

He pleaded, "If one of us is to die, please- Let it be me. He's done nothing, just- Please…"

Mipha stood there, with her eyes stuck, but not wholly in concentration. She felt her ankle twitch, Akis' fingers allowing only the most brief of constriction as his muscles betrayed his subservience.

"Mipha!" cried out Zelda in terror as Akis leapt to his feet with a hidden dagger flying toward Mipha, though her premonition of his movement already won her the counter.

Already having spun toward him, she sent the butt of the trident into his chin, knocking him off kilter before twirling the trident in her hand and jabbing with a furious strike that sent its sharpened edges into Akis' chest, his eyes immediately falling lifeless as he trembled in shock, taking the trident with him as he collapse to the ground.

"A- A- Akis..!" Dolare cried, rushing over to the man, "AKIS!"

He slid to a stop beside him, burying himself overtop of him as he clutched his cheeks, bringing his face toward him only to find it devoid of life. He shook violently, unending dread drenching his every scale as he watched the cold face of the man he loved.

"Akis…" he whined softly.

He wished he had tears to offer him. but he knew the both of them had lost them all in their effort to come here.

Mipha gently pulled the trident from Akis' corpse, holding it at her side before staring upon Dolare with a vengeful expression, "What did you give to come here?"

Dolare dropped his head, allowing his forehead to bury itself against Akis' chest, "We had nothing _to_ give…"

Watching him intently as though to size him up, Mipha's lips curled in thought as she stood above him. She watched the scene before her with increasing sorrow.

"All he wanted was the best for us, but-" Dolare managed coldly, "He wanted to give me the world."

"I never wanted this," he confirmed quietly.

Mipha allowed a sharp breath through her nose in contemplation, finally concluding, "You're not to see my father again. After what you've done, I'm sure he would want nothing short of your demise for your treasonous actions."

Dolare shook in realization.

Pondering silently for another moment, Mipha quietly asked, "What have you lost?"

His heart collapsing, Dolare weakly answered, "Everything…"

Mipha's eyes narrowed. She pulled her trident upward, yet it went no further. She dropped it at her side with a _clang_ that broke out like a death knell.

"Take him," Mipha concluded, "Take all of your companions that are left. Never return to this land."

Dolare's head slowly turned up toward Mipha, his eyes blood red from his tearless anguish, recognizing the mercy now bestowed upon him, "B- But-"

"Don't say a word," Mipha replied with a bite to her tone, "What you have done to us is immeasurable-"

Her eyes flashed toward Akis' lifeless frame, thinking only of that moment she had lost her own destiny, "-except, perhaps, by those we love, and who love us. I will allow no further bloodshed to stain these waters, so long as I'm expected of such benevolence."

She stepped away as Dolare's eyes followed her in listless expectation, checking on Daruk before returning a glance to Dolare.

"Go," she reminded him.

Slowly, Dolare rose to his feet, collecting his lover in his arms as best he could in a posture Mipha had, for a moment, envisioned herself in, before limping away toward the bridge. As he made his away around to carry his subordinates there, even beneath his injured frame, he refused to glance at anybody but Akis.

Despite Mipha's order to return from whence he came, Dolare's mind fumbled with that inevitable truth. That he hadn't a home to return to, now.


	34. Skin and Steel Entwined

"Ow!" Revali cried, throwing his arm across his body and away from the Zora doctor treating his wound, "You petulant child of a doctor! What would you know of treating these sorts of ailments?"

Having torn the final verbal lash across the doctor's back, the older Zora grumbled as he slammed shut his crate of tools, shaking his head before turning to leave in a furious stampede, "Enough to know when to quit!"

He threw open the curtains to leave, allowing Revali to pull his arm up to his eyes in examination as the other Champions watched the scene playing out, catching Revali's attention as he shouted in defense, "Well, what would _he_ know?!"

"More than us, at the very least," Urboss shrugged, "But one of your feathers- he said the calamus had split and threatened infection."

She frowned as Revali licked around the patch of inflamed skin to soothe the pain, the Gerudo only speaking up with a gradually excited tone in her voice, "Without the doctor, I suppose it can't be helped."

Revali's eyes widened in shock, whipping to the side to find Urbosa approaching him. He immediately flinched upward out from the cot he'd been laying in, only for Daruk to quickly wrangle him back down onto the cot.

"You wouldn't-! Doctor! Return to me at once!"

Urbosa cracked her knuckles, "Now hold still; you're only making it worse."

"How would you know?!"

Shrugging, Urbosa replied simply, "I don't, I suppose. You're just making it worse for me."

"GAH!" Revali cried out, wiggling furiously below Daruks grip, "Unhand me, _now_, Goron! I may yet allow you to bask in the more pleasant air of my presence if you release me this instant!"

Daruk couldn't help but chuckle as Urbosa simply removed the torn feather from his arm, Revali's thrashing proving to be a suitable anesthetic at the moment, the Goron watching him continue to wail.

"I demand that you-!"

"It's done, you imp," Urbosa chided, unable to hide a grin as she lay the feather atop Revali's sheets, "Just keep the wound clean and you'll recover in due time."

As if it were a source of infection itself, Revali threw his hand across his torso, sending the feather to the ground, "The weakest link should be the first to be stripped away, anyhow. The feather that replaces it shall be stronger by ten fold!"

"Hey, I don't care what you do with it," Urbosa shrugged, "We're just trying to help you out."

Rather miffed by such an admission, Revali frowned, his arms crossed in defiance as Urbosa turned to leave while Daruk did the same, forcing Revali alone with his thought for a brief few moments before a heated groan left his nostrils.

"Thanks."

Daruk turned slowly with a massive grin stretched across his face, causing Revali to sputter, "-and don't you dare tease me, rock man!"

As slowly as he'd spun around, Daruk turned away, still with the sizable smirk atop his face while Urbosa did her best to hide her own amusement. Despite how silly it might have been for it to have been this long for such an admission of thanks, it was rather heartwarming, at the very least, to hear something as humble as that from Revali.

Urbosa sighed, sitting beside Zelda before watching Link in his own cot, eyes closed as he slept. She turned her attention toward Zelda, who hadn't said much of anything since helping coordinate the recovery of her Champions, and had since kept to herself, curled up with her knees up to her chest like a shadow in the corner. The Gerudo relaxed, taking in a waveringly deep sigh while taking care to keep her arm from straying too far from where it grew intolerably pained.

"He'll be fine," she assured lightly, "Weren't you the one with the tale about how he flew halfway down the length of Akkala and into Zorana on a horse in just a couple days to win you aid for a sickness?"

Silence.

Breathing deep, Urbosa reached her arm across Zelda's shoulders, a seething groan leaving her as she did so, though she felt the gesture to be quite worth it as she pulled Zelda against her. Without Zelda's input, Urbosa decided to press on alone, drawing upon her many years' experience when it came to this young woman.

"I know you, child. Perhaps _too_ well for situations like this," she began with a smirk, "I understand the bitter irony of this journey."

Zelda tilted her head to the side, allowing her sidelong glance to escape the enclosure of her posture, her curiosity beating out her anguish.

"What?"

Urbosa smirked, "You, who so desperately wants to find her place in this world. Such a personal, singular goal indeed; yet you seek the companionship of a Company. More bitter still, it so happens to be a crew of Champions."

"My dear little bird," Urbosa mused quietly, allowing her voice to soothe the nerves of her all but adoptive daughter, "Certainly you understood how futile your own, personal mission would be when paralleled by these far loftier goals."

Zelda returned to her enclosure, causing a wry grin to cross Urbosa's face, knowing such subdued behavior was because she had been spot on.

"All I wanted was to prove to my father that I could handle myself," Zelda admitted solemnly, "And yet, the thought of failure so haunted me."

Urbosa ran her hand along her shoulder, abandoning any care for her own discomfort, "Oh, child."

"And I saw you all down there- So- So close to- You know…" Zelda relayed with a bravely still voice, "I failed. You're all here because of me. I'm responsible for you all, and- and I couldn't- protect any of you."

Urbosa smiled, "Zelda. This journey of ours is not soon going to become any more easy. Perhaps you _can't_ do this."

A shiver.

"But you've got five people surrounding you who would all rather die than find that out," she confirmed with a warm tone, "Because we're not unlike your father- We don't follow you because of who you were or what you lack. We follow you because we believe in you. because we see in you what you so troublingly fail to see in yourself. Potential. Potential to become the greatest ruler the Kingdom of Hyrule has ever known- one who has known loss and yet resolves to overcome such things."

Urbosa chuckled, "Listen to me talking like your mother. The real Urbosa would've said 'what're lives compared to- blah blah blah'."

That managed a tiny tremor from within Zelda's cocoon.

"You care more for the fate of Hyrule, than you do your own," continued Urbosa, a warm hopefulness in her breath, "You'd rather this journey to bring people together than go off on your own and find your own fate."

Zelda shrugged, "Well- Perhaps my fate lies with you all…"

"Maybe it does; who knows. But we're mere soldiers in the line of duty toward, not only you, but Hyrule as a whole," Urbosa triumphantly declared, albeit quietly, whispering further, "Even if Revali fails to act as though he does."

A soft whimper of a giggle.

"If you truly wish to partake in our protection, as well as your own- Once we leave here, I'll look to train you a bit. I'm sure Link will be happy to do the same. Mipha and, maybe Revali, too, but Daruk-?"

She turned to find the Goron picking unsightly sediment from his hands.

"Daruk, I don't think you can learn much from him. Brute force isn't exactly your thing, I don't think," Urbosa grinned knowingly.

Zelda's head emerged, a humored smile upon her face, "You mean I can't learn how to toss boulders?"

"You said that Sheikah Slate of yours is supposed to have properties that allow it to interact the world in such ways, right? Not all heroes need physical prowess, you know."

Shrugging, Zelda replied, "I suppose. I don't think I want to be a hero, exactly- just somebody who can protect their friends."

"There isn't much more nobler than that," Urbosa concluded with a gentle pat atop Zelda's shoulder, "Well that was a quick turnaround, wasn't it?"

Slight embarrassment painting her face, Zelda wearily admitted with a voice lined in whisper, "I mean- You talked like mom. and called me 'little bird'…"

"Ah," chimed Urbosa warmly, "When your mother left this world, you certainly were a little bird, weren't you?"

Another gasp leaving her as she raised her arm atop Zelda's head to give her a loving run of fingers through her hair, Urbosa finished, "You've stretched your wings rather far by now, haven't you?"

Zelda grinned as Urbosa promised solemnly, "To see you standing up for your friends the way you did- Your mother would be so proud of you."

"Of course," Urbosa continued, straining the heartfelt moment in an instant, "She would also _kill_ you for doing such a thing, so-"

With a playful jolt, Zelda slammed her shoulder into Urbosa's arm, causing a jarring yelp from her as she recoiled, "Ow! Hey!"

"Sorry; my wingspan isn't quite what I remember it being," concluded Zelda wryly.

Urbosa's face fell into a droll expression, groaning, "Gah. Leave it to you to mold roughness into cuteness. Daruk!"

The Goron rushed a glance toward her, "What?!"

"Help Revali to his feet," she instructed, "I think Zelda deserves some more of those tuna cannoli cakes we had the other night!"

Mouth agape, Daruk hurried to Revali's bedside, "Absolutely! I would speed to the edges of the world for a bite of-!"

"GAH! OW OW OWWW!" Revali shouted as Daruk rushed him along, "You deplorable bedside manner causes me nothing but consternation, you man of rubble!"

Nearly dragged from his bed, Revali threw his arms wildly in imbalance as Zelda rushed to his care, leaving Urbosa to inquire about Mipha, "Would you like to tag along?"

Having split her dutiful care between the recovering Champions, Mipha had largely focused on the still-quiet Link as the others recovered, and while it came across simply as a natural part of the practice of triage, for Mipha, it was an unfortunate opportunity to look over the man she loved for any complications. At Urbosa's behest, however, she knew better than to admit such things, instead appealing to her status.

"I apologize. As our host, it is my duty to ensure the safe recovery of you all," she explained with a dim, platonic smile, "So long as Link is unconscious, I cannot in good faith allow him to face this strife alone. Without these Zora issues, none of you would be injured, after all."

Urbosa nodded in understanding, "Alright then. I'll make sure Daruk doesn't eat them all on our way back."

"Girl's honor," she winked.

Mipha smiled brightly before nodding in reply, returning her attention toward Link as Urbosa wrangled the rest of the Company out from the covered partition atop the Domain, leaving their host to remain quiet as she looked over her Knight. Her smile, of course, didn't leave her.

"How long have you been up?"

Link began to stir.

"Long enough," he muttered exhaustively, pushing himself to where he was sitting up, "You all seemed to be having quite the boisterous time. I hated to break it up."

Despite some blinking of his eyes to adjust to the light beaming in through the curtains, Link remained with his eyes closed, massaging them gently as he took stock of the pain still riddling his body. He'd been bruised, he knew, but had healed quite well since the faint moments he had recalled sharing with Mipha beneath the Domain.

"Zora magic," Mipha spoke up gently, wearing a warm smile, "I promised you, years ago- I would let no harm come to you. In lieu of that, I will always care for you as best I can."

Link rotated his shoulder, "Gah… It's certainly improving."

Turning his sunken eyes toward Mipha, he spoke gently, "Thank you."

Turning her face downward, Mipha hid a tender grin there as Link worked his limbs, finding where any pain rested only to find much of it to have been salved by Mipha's handiwork, much to his pleasant surprise.

"The ringing in my ears has stopped," he noted lightly, "My lungs are- there. The dizziness has just about left me."

In a motion as graceful as it was swift, Mipha pushed herself up toward the cot, her hand matching the back of Link's head in ample time with her lips brushing against his. A sharp breath of surprise entered Link's nose before he settled in for the care meant for his heart.

Mipha pulled away to allow Link a breath, certain to remember his ailment, though she pressed her forehead against his in an attempt to keep them joined. An ache accompanied his lungs as Link breathed hot, humid breaths, eyes lost in captivating swirls within Mipha's own pair.

"-and now the dizziness is back."

Smirking playfully, Mipha accepted Link's direction as his hand found the back of her neck, pulling her in for another kiss, caring little for the aches in pains so long as he were joined in such pleasant union. Their lips met, only for Link to attempt and catch the whole of hers resulting in Mipha doing the same, stemming into a far more passionate ritual derived form that thought of being torn from such things, forever.

"Sorry," Mipha apologized between impassioned strokes of lips upon lips, "I was just checking."

Link pulled away for a moment, still clutching onto the back of her head as his chest strained, "Checking what?"

Her lips curled in devilish delight, "Wouldn't you like to know?"

"With how cryptic that all was, yes, kind of."

Rather than answering him with words, Mipha replied yet again with action, bringing his lips into her own, rendering Link's objection rather meaningless in contrast. Her eyes held open only weakly while Link gave in wholly to the sensation upon his lips, allowing Mipha to peek upon his serenely calm face, such things seeming to be of far greater importance now that she might understand how fleeting such things were.

She pulled away again to offer him respite, once again remaining close to allow her study of his face, though as they remained there, intimate as they were, Link began to gradually realize that something was weighing upon her mind.

"I thought I'd lost you," he offered sincerely.

She shut her eyes, exhaling in some sort of relief, "I thought the same…"

Their lips tired, they simply remained closed, enjoying the attributes of the other; Mipha his warmth, and Link her cooled skin that fought back against the thick humidity clinging to his skin. Her hand remained atop his head, fingers closing atop his hair, feeling its fibrous strands against the in between of her fingers, allowing Link an intuition as to her current thoughts.

"I'm sorry," she managed shakily.

"For what?" Link asked with a muted chuckle.

She paused for a moment, thinking of whether such a thought were worth bringing up, though she recalled Link's words. Whatever ailed her mind, he was there to offer her the same care she had performed in his service.

Cautiously, she spoke up, "The crimson one- Dolare…"

Link's ears perked up in confusion.

"He said what he'd done- It had only been in service of the one he loved," she spoke up quietly, "And I- When I forced you toward taking the Master Sword, I didn't think I was-"

Carefully, albeit for his own body's sake, Link wrapped an arm around Mipha, pulling her into a hug, "Mipha? You've forced me to do nothing. You are not responsible for leading me to where I now lay. Everything has been of my own doing, and while I certainly allow a tremendous amount of stock to your thoughts and words-"

He paused, deciding to reload rather than continue, "I'm here because of _them_. Not you."

Mipha's eyes trailed away, "But even your Sword seems to believe I'm merely a detriment."

"Does-" Link quickly replied with a start, catching Mipha's curiosity as he began to chuckle behind a grin, "You aren't aware, are you?"

Her eyes now aflutter, Mipha recoiled, "Aware of what..?"

Link dropped his head to politely go on with his amused laughter, "Sorry, I-"

He raised his eyes to meet her own, "Which sword did you toss me before I fell into the basin?"

Mipha's brow furrowed in confusion, "I thought your Knight's-"

Her eyes lit up with astonishment, "You mean-?!"

Link smirked wider, "I thought you were aware of it. When I took it from the air, I immediately felt its mystic weight upon me- but it was unmistakable."

He turned to where he had left the Master Sword beside him when first coming to the cot, lifting it up easily and resting it atop his chest while Mipha's eyes watched in awe.

"Try it," he assured with a warm voice.

Mipha returned to him, "This isn't the same trick that we-?!"

"Of course not," Link laughed, "I'd be far too worried to risk such a game while I'm bedridden with you atop of me."

Her eyes glowing while trailing down toward his chest where the Sword's handle lay, Mipha gave a trembling breath, thinking over her lover's words- how she knew, already, that she could trust this person with every fiber of her being.

Her hand straying ever nearer to the Sword, a minute swallow left her breathless for a brief moment as she took the handle into her hand, exhaling in shaky cognizance as her heart tumbled and bound in happiness all at once. She peered up to Link's eyes as her own teared up above a smile most pure.

"I-!" she stammered, unable to verbalize the torrential flood of emotions swelling up within her.

The only thing giving her presence was Link's hand closing overtop hers along the Sword's hilt, pulling the two tightly against his chest as a tear formed in his own eye, smiling in the surest of love for this woman's infinite bliss at the moment.

"Our fates," he managed however cooly he could muster, though ultimately betrayed by a pang of shakiness in his own voice, "Entwined. Forever."

In a absolute moment of pure jubilance, Mipha fell into Link's chest, caught between tears and giddy laughter as she accepted the warm embrace of her lover's free arm curling along her shoulders.

"Forever," she managed plainly in between giggles, catching a sidelong glance along Link's chest to find his eyes.


	35. The Second Divine Beast, Vah Ruta

Mipha intentionally kept her head low as the Champions sauntered up the mighty slopes that lead up to the reservoir. She knew her incessantly beaming face was out of place, yet she couldn't help the feelings coursing through her at that moment. Not only had she shared something with Link rather intimate, and indeed, rather embarrassing by Zora standards, but even beyond their kisses, they shared a moment of momentous occasion, a strand of fate passing through both of their fingers entangled together. As dour as she had been to begin this leg of their journey, she now experienced much the opposite, even if the thought of hiding such emotions constrained her heart to the point of stress.

She so wanted to share it with her friends, but given the occasion in which it had occurred, _alone with Link_\- such situations only bred suspicion and, certainly, innuendo. Link, himself, had to hold his own thrilled disposition, though being well-versed in concealing such things, he found it easier to play along in innocence, even if he couldn't help but steal glanced toward Mipha to ensure that she wasn't staring back. He hated to waste a moment of connection such as that.

"So troublesome this pathway!" Revali complained, tugging his arm within the sling there to keep it in place, its discomfort keeping him in a rather foul mood, "Certainly you Zora understand the accessibility of- Why are you smiling so much?"

Mipha's jolted as Revali's scathing criticism surprised her. Such a statement caught the others' attention, though Zelda was quick to interject on behalf of Mipha's privacy.

"Look! Almost there! Revali, you can rest up once we arrive," she spoke up with contagious elation.

He nodded plainly, "A proper Rito refuses such attempts at ill efficiency. We shall press on, despite the barely ergonomic construction of this terrain."

Link spoke up off-handedly, as if speaking only to himself, "One hundred and eighty-four steps up to the reservoir…"

Frowning, Revali spoke up with a pitherous voice, "Perhaps a moment's rest, then…"

Before anything concrete could be decided upon, Navo's inquirous expression brought him strolling in opposition to the Champions, his spear at the ready; however, upon taking a moment to size up the group, his critical gaze grew into one of incredulity. Revali's arm strung up in a sling, Urbosa bruised with bandages along her arms; Daruk, a man made from rock, wore a strap around his stomach to brace his back. While Mipha appeared normal, she was also joined by Link, whose entire face looked sunken in beneath a coiling strand of fabric that went around his cranium.

"D- Did I miss something?!" Navo questioned with a start.

Daruk groaned in heavy dismay, with the others sharing in their own displeasure as Mipha stepped forward, "Sort of. In any case, here is a message from my father. You'll recognize-"

"I- I know what to recognize!" Navo retorted, whipping his arm out to snatch the slip of paper from Mipha, "You know it d- did take you a few days to get this."

Mipha frowned, "I understand."

"That- t- It does not help with my suspicions," Navo confirmed uneasily, though his eyes began scrolling along the note regardless, "G- Well, truly, this _is_ the King's signature and handwriting…"

"Great," Urbosa nodded stepping along, "Now we can get on- WAH!"

Navo swung his spear overtop Mipha to stop Urbosa in her tracks, a scowl leading her nowhere as he shouted, "D- DON'T YOU DARE! Th- This n- note- It assures me of your passage, but as Watcher, _I_ remain the utmost authority on whom may be privileged enough to stand in the presence of Vah Ruta! Clearly, Mipha is the most graceful amongst us Zora; Vah Ruta would be honored to have her company. But _you_-!"

His eyes scanned the ragged ranks of Champions, "Vah Ruta h- has little interest in outsiders!"

"Navo," Mipha spoke up gently, a regal nature summoned to the surface as she steadied her comrade, "They all bear these marks because of me. They sacrificed much for my sake, just as you have sacrificed much for your people."

Appealing to his own sense of sacrificed seemed to quell some of Navo's nerves, or at the very least, knocked him off kilter just enough to unsettle his current course of action.

"Uh, Mr. Navo, sir," Zelda began timidly, recoiling only slightly as he drew his spear back toward her direction, "If it helps ease your mind at all-"

She removed the single necklace from her neck, "I know Mipha did the same thing, but just so I have a vested interest in keeping everything in check so far as Vah Ruta is concerned."

Handing it out toward Navi, he sneered with a sharp tone, "Lady Mipha did that to prove she was no imposter. Your necklace means little to me- I- I don't even know who you are!"

Unsure of how to reply politely, Zelda remained stagnant, though Revali was quite ready to take the fore, "It's collateral, you fool; she's taking it back once you can ensure nothing was done to that Beast."

"I- I knew that!" Navo shouted in shaking tone, swiping away the necklace from Zelda's hand, his insistence on proving his understanding all but landing him into a position to allow passage, "N- Now then, so long as all these trifling things are taken care of-"

He spun around, though still with his spear at the ready, "And no funny business!"

Daruk chuckled, elbowing Link's arm with a gentle force, "He must truly not know us!"

"Funny business _does_ seem to be our mode of operation often times," Link sighed as if ashamed of the fact.

Zelda spoke up ahead of the two, all but prepared for gleaning whatever knowledge she could now that the Watcher appeared to be on their side, "Mr. Navo, sir? You Zora ride waterfalls, correct? Why build stairs?"

His intrigue piqued by such interest in his line of work, Navo near-happily chided, "W- Well, uh- The history of the reservoir is more or less overdrawn by legend and folklore by now, but you have those who propose our ancestors built it along with assistance of the other peoples of Hyrule, given its importance to Hyrule as a whole, but there is another school of thought that the Sheikah constructed the reservoir, along with our Domain. Either way, stairs were required in both instances."

"Uh huh, uh huh," Zelda nodded, quickly reaching her arm in Link's direction, wiggling it incessantly until he placed his notebook into her hand, "Which do you believe it to be?"

Navo failed to reply, though not in rudeness; rather, he took on an air of indelibly careful thought, his lips curling inward as he decided upon revealing his thoughts, "Well, that is- Vah Ruto is Sheikah herself, so unless she moved, the reservoir must have been created by Sheikah hands as well, but-"

"But?" Zelda replied, almost giddy.

Sighing deeply, Navo admitted, "There must have been some divine hands at work as well."

"You don't say," Zelda muttered as she scribbled, "We've been atop of Vah Naboris, but we didn't catch anything that hinted to the divine, did we?"

Urbosa shrugged, "There are tales, sure, but to so degrade the intelligence of the Sheikah seems to be an example of our own feigned temperance."

Bowing his head, Navo trembled at the thoughts mulling around his head, "I don't know about the other Beasts, but- I do so certainly know Vah Ruta, and she- she certainly does have a personality about her. There's more to her than mechanical parts, and- "

Mipha sidled closer to Zelda to offer her own opinion quietly enough, "I mentioned that Navo is a tad bit… you know…"

Reassuring her with an astute nod, Zelda replied, "It's fascinating nonetheless."

She returned her attention to Navo's continued speaking, "-she certainly understands the world around her. I mean, she is the primary reason for stabilizing the climate of Hyrule as a whole. There's something about her that goes beyond mere machine, you know?"

"Like a soul, perhaps?" Zelda asked, her hand ascribble with a furious pace.

At that, Navo went silent. Whether or not it was due to him understanding how odd his attachment to the Beast was, Zelda wasn't able to tell, but seeming to overcome his inhibitions toward speaking further, Navo turned over his shoulder to eye his guests.

"I've said too much," he relayed with a twinge of regret in his voice.

Zelda frowned sadly, "Sorry. I'm just- Look, the whole reason we're here is to understand Vah Ruta, or- Well, the Divine Beasts as a whole. So little is known, and as time is of short commodity, I mean- Any insights you could offer, regardless of how strange, would be tremendously appreciated. Vah Ruta _is_ the only Beast to have protectors, after all."

The group roaming astride for another few moments, Navo finally sounded his lips in fretful acceptance, caught between his expertise being drawn upon once again as well as his admiration of the subject in question. He reached up to stroke his chin with a sigh, turning over his shoulder.

"You won't, uh- tell anybody, will you?"

Zelda smiled, "Of course not. It's purely for study!"

Navo's eyes strayed toward Revali, "Even the mean one?"

"Pah!" Revali charged with a start, "I strive to maintain excellence in my own personage, and have no qualms demanding the same from others, but I am not _mean_!"

Link nodded, "Oh, good. We finally have a description for it."

Frowning, Revali ignored his retort, instead assuring Navo with a snort, "Say what you must. I haven't a qualm about keeping it to myself."

Navo bit his lip as the group took to the collection of steps at the base of the reservoir, beginning their ascent, "Well, I- I'm convinced that Vah Ruta has a personality. Not like we living beings, but- She speaks to me."

"Fascinating!" Zelda spouted with interest, "What does she say?"

Shrugging, Navo replied quickly as though to explain away whatever insanity might have been associated with such a claim, "I- Nothing crazy! You know, we maintain her well-being and she has an interest in our own. She thanks me when I'm descaling the rust from her legs, and she- you know, asks about my day."

He lowered his head, "She was the one who goaded me into mating when the King expressed his displeasure that my line would end with me… Vah Ruta assured me that any time apart from her would be worthwhile if it meant my children would be in her service and care…"

Zelda scribbled at a rushed pace, "Urbosa, have any Gerudo expressed similar phenomenon?"

Scratching her head amidst the bizarre tale being relayed, Urbosa's brow furrowed as she answered, "I, uh, don't think so. Though, Vah Naboris is largely solitary; it's lightning storms prevents much of any interaction, so…"

"I wonder if these Beasts don't all have personalities if given the same treatment as Vah Ruta," Zelda hypothesized.

Daruk covered his mouth to cough as his eyes trailed off, wondering if Zelda were merely humoring Navo's words or sincerely questioning all that had been known about the Divine Beasts.

"There just machines," Urbosa muttered calmly, a dour tone accompanying her as she wished no ill will toward Navo.

The Watcher's shoulders slumped, "I'm well aware how crazy I seem. Trust me, I've been told. I could see it in the eyes of the woman who was all but assigned to be my mate. My own daughter, bless her, refuses to bring her friends to see the reservoir."

Mipha frowned as the discussion soured, though Navo gave a hopeful conclusion, "If they could see Vah Ruta as I do- If they spent the time I have with her-"

He sighed, "Perhaps I am crazy. If I do hear her- If I answer. If I've come to know her as another person. Even if I'm insane, is it not just as real, if only to me?"

Mipha reached over to tenderly grasp his arm, catching his attention with a smile, "Navo? You're the best Watcher this Domain has had in its service in decades. We're lucky to have you, and whether Hyrule knows it or not, the whole of its breadth owes you tremendously."

"Thank you, Lady Mipha," he spoke assuredly, "D- Despite knowing how I'm viewed by some, I- I pay little mind to it. So long as my Gaddison thinks me a suitable father to her, and I certainly attempt to be, I'm content with my life beyond this reservoir."

Giving him a gentle smile, Mipha nodded to him in understanding.

"Seventy-fi- Gah," Revali grumbled, giving up his counting as they made it to the midway point of the immense stairway, leaving Link with a hidden smirk.

* * *

"Careful now," Daruk instructed as he helped Urbosa onto Vah Ruta's entrance platform from a small boat that had been kept atop the reservoir.

Urbosa eyed him with a sarcastic zeal, "Yes, I was planning on simply missing my step before you mentioned that."

Grinning, Daruk questioned, "And yet we'll never know, now that I've said something!"

"Goddess…" Urbosa frowned, turning to the others, "Are we sure Daruk isn't a dad?"

Mipha giggled, "He _does_ wear the white hair of a man with a progeny following behind him."

Such a regal way of putting it left Daruk crossing his arms with a ground smile, despite Link's droll voice, "I'm pretty certain. Unless he carved out a son and breathed into it life without relaying it to his Sworn Brother."

He gave a questioning glare toward Daruk, "He _does_ have enough dad jokes, though; it wouldn't surprise me."

"You say it like it's a bad thing! To have attained such jokes that are described as such- It may well be a sign of honor!" Daruk reasoned.

"P- Pardon me," Navo's voice rang out from behind the boat, having ferried it across by the power of his own legs, "Lady Mipha, if you would offer me the honor of your assurance that nothing of harm will come to Vah Ruta?"

Mipha nodded with a sincere smile, "You have it in droves. We're simply looking around."

"G- Good," Navo replied quietly, "I have a few matters to attend to, s- so- In an hour's time, I shall return."

"Thank you," replied Mipha before returning to the Champions, "Alright then. Zelda?"

"Roger!" Zelda replied with a heated voice, holding her hand up clutching Link's notebook, remaining there wholly still in her pose before Link recognized her game, sighing and holding out his own hand for Zelda to slam the notebook into.

"Let's roll!" Zelda shouted exuberantly before disappearing into Vah Ruta, leaving Link a frown as he readied his notebook, warming up his fingers for dictation.

"Flair for the dramatic," he muttered to Mipha as she smirked in good humor.

Urbosa chimed, "Oh, but how true that is. C'mon."

The others filed in only to find Zelda already attempting to climb up one contraption, her voice bellowing out with a brightness that so wholly captured her adventurous spirit, "Gee _whiz_ this is massive! Did it look this huge from the outside?!"

"Z- Zelda!" Link shouted instinctively, forcing her down from her perch, "Honestly, the biggest threat to you is _you_."

Pouting as she sauntered back to the group, Zelda murmured, "You're no fun…"

"Alright, we should probably have a plan in place anyway," Urbosa noted, "Navo isn't gonna want us stowing away in here for long."

Mipha nodded, "That's correct. Perhaps we split up once more, recalling what we learned from Vah Naboris."

Rushing through his notebook, Link noted plainly, "Here's your notes from then… Let's see…"

"I had a thought, actually, as I sat in the prison," Mipha spoke up, turning to Urbosa, "What was it that Ilem said about metalworking with swords? About how every sword is marked, in some way, by its crafter like an autograph?"

Daruk wondered along, "You think the same might be true about the Divine Beasts?"

"An interesting thought," Zelda concluded with affirmation, "We'll keep an eye out for such things as we explore."

Link spoke up, "Okay… So the most notable things about Naboris was the terminals; there were five small ones that seemed to all connect to a main one, possibly connected like the shrines in leylines. Sadly, we lost the diagram; I couldn't recover _it_ from memory."

"In any case, that autograph thing? If all of these Beasts _are_ designed in much the same way, for instance, all with the same number of terminals, that's _something_," Urbosa nodded in consideration.

Zelda agreed, "Exactly. Just keep a look out, alright? Revali, how's your wing doing?"

"A veritable thorn in the podotheca, if you must know," he complained, though quickly shrugged with indifference, "Though, if you require the power bestowed upon me in the form of flight, I should find myself able to manifest such things."

"Excellent!" replied Zelda enthusiastically.

* * *

"You are a better scribe than I could have ever hoped for!" Zelda proclaimed, patting Link's back as he scrolled down the notes taken from the exploration of Vah Ruta, "So intent are you to retain these notes, you imprint them upon your flubbin' m- Tch-!"

She smacked her wrist, whispering to herself, "_No more scholar speak_! No more!"

"I am a knight by trade," Link assured readily, "Any command, I strive to accomplish to the best of my ability."

Zelda's lips pursed in frustration, "Well, yeah, but I'd have forgotten in that madness that followed. There's a reason I keep such strenuous notes in the first place."

"Then why assign them to me?" Link questioned, raising his eyes from the page in hand.

Grinning, Zelda answered, "Well _now_ it's because I know you're super good at it!"

Unhappy with such a declaration, Link shook his head with dissatisfaction while returning to his notation.

"Now, we know Vah Ruta seems far more capable in terms of movement. I suppose it has to be, given it's purpose, but we've already found evidence that this Beast is supposed to move from within in _some_ manner; I mean, it has those propeller things than cannot move outside of external means."

Zelda grumbled, "Argh! I wish we knew how to operate these! It's as if we're finding ancient tomes that hold so much knowledge yet we cannot comprehend the language! It's so frustrating. If Auntie Purah were here, she'd figure it out."

"Well, I _do_ suppose this is your time to shine," Link considered before finishing up the last of his notes.

"Perhaps," Zelda muttered listlessly, her finger absent-mindedly tapping the Sheikah Slate that rest upon her belt, "Rain nor wind could accomplish its movement. It would have to be something directed toward it, like a waterfall?"

Link flipped through his notes, "There was some discussion over the ability to pilot these things."

Nodding diligently, Zelda agreed, "Correct. The Sheikah legends tell of such a thing; the Sheikah themselves piloted these Beasts to combat an ancient evil themselves before leaving them in the hands of those who would come after them."

The two stood there silently, Zelda in thought while Link simply reviewed the notes, muttering to himself in meandering thoughts, "I mean, it has a trunk. Should aim that thing at the turbine."

"What?" Zelda asked in sudden astonishment, "Was that-?!"

"OI!" came a cry from above, Daruk's booming voice echoing only somewhat within the half-enclosed Beast, "We've got five terminals on this one as well! Revali scoped out the fifth one on its trunk!"

"Exactly!" Zelda cried, shoving Link at his shoulder in her elation, forcing a recoil from him.

He seethed, "Gah! You know, I liked it better when you spoke like an Akkalan child!"

"The trunk! That's it!" Zelda shouted, "I knew these things were piloted, sure, but I hadn't an idea just how! Perhaps each one acts like a marionette of sorts, with the pilot contorting different parts of their bodies! For Vah Ruta, the trunk; Vah Naboris-"

She stroked her chin, "That one eludes me. We didn't notice anything, did we?"

Sighing with impatience, Link fingered through their notes once again, "I don't recall anything, no."

Zelda peered up as Urbosa crawled down from a nearby outcropping, trudging on over with a thumb over her shoulder, "I checked each terminal. Whatever keeps this thing powered enough to create water is not powering its terminals; they're all stone cold."

"Urbosa! Vah Naboris- If the pilots of these Beasts used them like puppets, controlling their very bodies- What might Vah Naboris do?"

The Gerudo gave a quizzical look, "Do what now?"

Link raised his arm to resemble an elephant's trunk with a look of utter sarcasm on his face before returning to his notebook, leaving Urbosa with, "Oh, the trunk?"

Snapping her finger in a bluster of discovery, Zelda shouted, "That's it! These things _must_ move by way of their pilots! How else could Ruta be here without the reservoir?!"

She took a triumphant swing through the air, "Take _that_, Phepea from the leatherworking shop! Who's _loose in the head_ now?! Just because I haven't a clue how to tan a hide doesn't mean I-!"

"Ahem," Urbosa cleared her throat, simultaneously doing the same to Zelda's mind.

"Sorry," Zelda apologized, "Look. It's starting to make all of the sense. There's just a little more we need to understand. How do we _power_ these things, and how do we _pilot_ them?"

Revali swung back into the Beast's interior, coming to a rather uneven landing before nursing his arm once more, Zelda immediately questioning him as he opened his mouth only to be quelled by her energy, "Well?! Well?! Anything?!"

"Phuh-! I-!"

Zelda pawed at him as if to shake the information out of him, forcing him to leap backward, "Unhand me! Goddess, I'd rather you revert to that speech that comes from the infantile gurgles of a loonlet!"

Link shrugged at the odd comparison between the two of them.

"S- Sorry," Zelda replied with a miffed tone as Revali stroked his mantle.

He answered unsurely, "No harm done, just- Watch the feathers, alright? Now, what was this inquiry you were so incessantly desperate for me to divulge?"

Zelda nodded, "Daruk mentioned the terminal on Vah Ruta's trunk, but what about a potential power source?"

Clearing his throat, Revali puffed out his chest, much to Zelda's elation, his voice bellowing, "Actually, no."

Zelda deflated about as quickly as his plumage.

"I wouldn't even know what to look for, to begin with," he shrugged with a smarmy tone, "I will remind you that we Rito dare not even greet our physical embodiment of the great god, Witwa, upon the sky!"

He sneered indifferently, "or _Vah Medoh_, as your Hylian tongue seems to better understand."

Returning to Link, finding him resuming his scribbling, Zelda still asked, "You're getting all this, correct?"

A knowing glance found her as he tilted his head just enough for her to catch wind of such a thing before returning to his writing.

"Child, calm down," Urbosa insisted, "We've two more Beasts yet. The most troublesome to meet, at that. You have plenty of time to work this all out, especially while not under the nose of Navo."

Sighing dramatically, Zelda nodded nevertheless, "You're right. There's just so, so much! I'm a tizzy of excitement and wonderment and- OOF! It's spectacular!"

Urbosa couldn't help but muster a smile as she watched her so easily descend into happiness as easily as a child might. It reminded her of her own lost childhood- how she might have acted had she not been forced into her role from infancy.

As Revali fixed his plumage, Daruk and Mipha emerged from above the rest of the group, immediately perplexed by Zelda's excitement, which now had manifest in a series of hopping up and down.

"Did we figure it out?!" Daruk asked with anticipation.

Zelda smiled, "Not yet, but we're getting closer! Perhaps with the next Beast, we'll get it. We're only missing two ingredients now."

She lowered her head in some reverence, "The Sheikah- They're all looking upon us with such expectation… They've left us all they possibly could, and yet-"

Her hands hardening into fists, the grinned, "We _are_ gonna figure it out. Not only have we come so far, but- We have centuries of Sheikah ingenuity to guide us, if only we can learn to understand all that they've left us."

"Centuries for us, but also for whatever evils we'll be fighting," Urbosa replied somberly, "For the tools that ultimately defeated that evil that once plagued this world- Should it return, it won't exactly be ignorant of their existence…or their operation."

Zelda confidently proclaimed, "Then we'll just have to beat them to it. More than these Beasts, we have far more than that evil will ever hope to have."

Daruk gave a concerned glance toward Mipha, expecting Zelda to reference the Master Sword, though the Princess of Hyrule Kingdom instead mustered the gusto to declare, "We have Champions on our side."

"Pah. Appealing to our sense of pride once again, are we?" Revali stoked with a sneer, though it crept subtly into a smirk, "I like it."

"As do I," Mipha agreed with a humbled smile, "If we truly composite the whole of Hyrule- We already outnumber whatever might come in our way."

She flashed a glance toward Link, who caught her with a look of his own as Zelda further declared, "And we've something to fight for!"

The two broke their gazes with equalizing embarrassment.

"Our homes," Zelda nodded gallantly, "Something the invasion of evil could never hope to comprehend."

Urbosa smirked, "As I said. Our little bird has grown up. Giving rousing speeches, fearing not a thing that might-"

"HEY!"

Zelda leapt upward in surprise before diving in Urbosa's arms as Navo stepped into the interior of the Beast, "I said an hour!"

Shaking from Urbosa's laughter, Zelda quickly recovered, making herself up as she straightened out her tunic, keeping her head low ashamedly while Urbosa surmised, "Alright, we'll work on that second part."


	36. A Most Unceremonious Exit

The Champions stood near the massive bridge leading out of Zora's Domain, preparing their things while also fielding curious questions from a few of the Zora who had come to see them off. Zelda was speaking with the librarian, perhaps trying to 'borrow' a tome or two for an extended period, while Daruk was offloading more than he was packing amidst the gaggle of Zora children who had arrived to see the massive rock man one last time.

"You eat these?!" one of them wondered in lengthy incredulity, biting down on one of the pebbles Daruk had handed off as candy.

Daruk grinned, "Of course! They're quite the delicacy up in Eldin! Though, I don't think you children quite have the chompers to enjoy them as I do. What's the tastiest thing you kids have ever eaten?"

"Fatty tuna!" cried one of the taddies while the chorus muffled beneath a cacophony of replies, "Fish skewers!" "A massive porgy!"

"Alright!" declared Daruk, "Just imagine any one of those all balled up and smushed into a little tiny pellet of flavor. _That's_ what these things are like!"

Unsatisfied, many of the children simply eyed the Goron candy, examining it in their hands as if in search of this mythical flavor they'd been told were concealed within the pebbled forms.

Link watched from nearby, shaking his head with a smile as he returned his attention to packing up his rucksack, having been offered a handful of trinkets by a few locals who had rounded up some gifts for the Champions. Crouched down, doing his rummaging, he chuckled at Urbosa's words as she spoke up.

"How is it that we didn't realize how much of a dad that man is until now?" she inquired rhetorically.

Link shot her a humored glance, "If we're headed up north from here, just wait until we run into a Hylian retriever; he'll become a child. He is a man of many ages, it seems."

Urbosa smirked at the scene playing out nearby, turning back toward Link as Tovar approached, his arm wrapped around Zevan as he kept him on his feet, albeit with some difficulty. Link rose to his feet respectfully, bowing his head as the two met him, much with the same show of reverence.

"Hylian," Tovar muttered, "When we brought you here, I cannot say I ever expected a sending off quite like this."

Link couldn't help but smirk, however weak, as he nervously scratched the back of his head, "That, uh, makes two of us."

He turned to Zevan, his leg bent upward as he stood there on one foot, "How're you holding up?"

"Pfft, better than ever," Zevan chuckled, "Nah, I've taken blows worse than this and always recovered."

Tovar frowned, "This one has always been a glutton for punishment. As a child, he would routinely escape my sight and try to fight the moblins up along Ruto Mountain."

"Come on, father; how else was I going to become a strong warrior that you could be proud of?"

Shooting his son a serious glance, Tovar assured, "Many days found me pondering whether or not I would even have a son to be proud of."

Zevan grumbled, turning to Link, "You're a Royal Knight; why don't you tell him?"

Only able to cross his arms, Link grinned, "Sorry. I'm with your father on this one."

Nearly aghast, Zevan unsteadily rocked back and forth while his father took a tighter grip to steady him, the son spouting with a surprised laugh, "Pardon?!"

Link tilted his head, "Look, there are so many things that people could look at about me and say that I was tapped for knighthood. My parents were joined together for that sole purpose, after all. You could look at my training, whatever-"

He shrugged, "It wasn't the licks I took or the bruises that stained my skin for a time that made me a Royal Knight. It was the fact that, when I got knocked down five times, I stood up six."

Zevan frowned, though his head dropped with a sigh nonetheless, "I suppose I see your point."

"Thank you," Tovar muttered with exasperation, "Take it from me. Your body won't always be there for you, but your determination will be."

Smirking, Zevan peered back up toward Link, "But you've got that Sword, too!"

Offering his own grin, Link raised a hand for the two men to shake, "Stick to spears, please; if only to ease your father's worries."

"Will do," Zevan chuckled, bumping an elbow into his fathers side before shaking Link's hand, "I can't be a little scamp my _whole_ life."

"No," Tovar groaned, though he returned to his austere air as he shook Link's hand, "Thank you. Words cannot convey just how much we appreciate what you've done for us. For all the skepticism toward Hylians- That one would so desperately defend our home- It has not gone unnoticed."

Link nodded, "Well here's to a home worth defending. I've always been fond of this place."

"I assure you, then; so long as I'm here, you and these Champions will always be welcome," Tovar nodded, turning over his shoulder as he followed Link's suddenly shifting glance to see Lady Mipha strolling down the staircase toward the entryway, "So long as you have her in your Company, I doubt the rest of you will need much worry. Lady Mipha is one of our finest warriors in her own right."

"Oh, we've sparred before," Link chuckled, "Trust me, I know."

He returned to the two men, patting Zevan's shoulder, "Just make sure you'll continue getting up when you're knocked down."

"On my honor," Zevan smiled.

Tovar nodded in acceptance before turning to leave, carefully accompanying Zevan's weakened state as he did so. Link watched for a brief moment before hurrying back toward the Champions in time with Mipha, the Zora already in conversation with Zelda.

"-Father has offered us every blessing we could ever hope for," she finished.

His arm unslung, Revali cocked his head to the side, "And yet I continue to be inundated with trifling objects! Could you ask him to levy his subjects' offerings so that I might be left in peace?!"

Mipha grinned, "No can do, I'm afraid. You've become something of a folk hero, in particular."

"I beg your pardon?!" Revali exclaimed, much to the laughter of the others.

Urbosa exclaimed in between such laughs, "Revali?! Really?!"

Proudly, Mipha nodded with exuberance, "When I was tackled to the ground, Revali made like the truest of arrows to free me so that I could rescue Link. They say his form was magnif-"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Link interrupted with his open hands splayed out in front of him, twirling his index finger, "What was that again?"

Mipha smirked knowingly, noticing Revali's suddenly indifferent turning of his head away from the group, "Revali knocked me free to rescue you."

Urbosa's mouth, already wide in surprise, made a motion as she spoke up, "Whoa!"

Revali defiantly replied lowly, "Correlation does not equal causation, I _assure_ you. I noticed a comrade in peril, so I acted as the greatest of warriors might."

He shrugged, "Had I known this _Hylian_ had been at stake-"

"You'd have let him die? Really?" Urbosa questioned suddenly, though with a light air to her voice denoting her unbelief in Revali doing such a thing.

Silently, Revali's eyes peered out into the sky for the longest of moments, finally concluding, "I suppose I would not have."

"Ooooooh!" Urbosa nearly squealed with a zeal that often accompanied those young, girlish fans of more notable Hylian soldiers.

Revali gave a furious scowl in her direction, "Oh, do not _dare_ presume any ulterior motives on my part! I understand _two_ things during combat; those who want to bring harm to me, and those who do not. My own chances of survival only improve the more bodies that surround me, so of course I-"

His face suddenly sharpened into one of utter confusion as he glared at Link's outstretched hand, eyes turning up to meet the look of sheer earnest upon the Hylian's face.

"What..?" Revali charged lowly, as if expecting a prank.

Link's stare softened only slightly, "Thank you."

The Rito's skepticism remained.

"It means more to me than you'll ever know."

Revali's face remained fierce as he understood Link's gesture, a sneer crossing him as though disgusted by the thought of shaking this man's hand. As the seconds passed, however, his lips curled indifferently, reaching out only for a split second to shake Link's hands, quickly pulling away, crossing his arms, and turning away.

"Don't mention it," he seethed, "Really. Don't."

Urbosa could barely contain herself as she forced a squeal behind her clasped mouth, quickly turning to find Zelda quickly approached, her arrival seeming to have been the impetus for Revali's sudden action.

"Ooooh! Zelda! You missed it!"

Shocked, Zelda corrected, "Nuh uh! I got it!"

She smirked as though having been successful in a scheme, waving a sizeable tome in the air, "Gaferi's Histories! This ancient Gerudo text might be the most important-!"

"Revali and Link shook hands," Urbosa interrupted with a high-pitched voice.

"Aww!" Zelda mused with a raised brow, now earning Link's ire along with Revali's, "Was it cute?!"

"So cute," Urbosa confirmed.

"Okay," Link suddenly interjected, "I think we're ready to go. Right now."

Revali scurried away, "Couldn't agree more."

"Wait!" Zelda pleaded, "Just once more so I can see?!"

"Keep dreaming," Link seethed as he clasped up his rucksack.

Zelda shrugged, "Perhaps I will. In any case, all things considered, I would consider this leg of the journey a rousing success! We learned a lot about the Divine Beasts, quelled an uprising, found a long-lost tome- it isn't even summertime!"

"And no casualties," Mipha remined with a grin.

"Oh yeah, that too," Zelda absent mindedly reiterated as she opened the cover of her new book, meandering behind Urbosa's direction as they headed toward the bridge.

"Yo, Daruk! Come on!" Urbosa shouted, returning to Zelda, "So what did that book cost you?"

Zelda turned up toward Urbosa with shock, "Cost?! Is there a price upon knowledge?! I simply turned down the rupees King Dorephan was going to offer us."

"Pardon?" Urbosa retorted with shock.

"So what if the librarian described it as 'showering us with rupees'? No price can be put on the wealth of knowledge we'll find in here! even if Gaferi is largely refuted by our current scholarship. I say there's always value in everything."

Urbosa ran two fingers across her closed eyes, "Zelda… That is _the_ _most_ 'you' thing I've ever heard."

"Thanks!" Zelda chimed, quickly souring, "...I think?"

Daruk joined them in a rush as they trailed down the bridge toward the mainland, "Sorry! What did I miss?!"

"Zelda turned down a fortune while Link and Revali shook hands," Urbosa half-complained.

Nodding exuberantly, Daruk noted, "So just another moment in the life of our Champions, eh?"

"Just about," Mipha giggled quietly.

"Hmm," Daruk thought aloud, "I wonder what else is in store for this wily bunch of heroes and their dashing Goron deputy!"

With Zelda ensconced within her book, Urbosa lost in thoughts of Link and Revali together, Link critical in his offering silence while Mipha kept her eyes upon him- only Revali was left to answer him.

"No doubt some _excellent_ times," he sputtered with all the sarcasm he would muster, shaking his head.

Daruk threw a triumphant fist into the air, "Bwah ha ha! I can only hope so!"


	37. A Tumultuous History of Akkala

_**Part Three - Vah Rudania**_

Link desperately braced his back against the solid wall of granite behind him, throwing his legs up to push with whatever force he could against the opposing wall of stone that was collapsing in on him and Revali, the blistering heat of the gigantic vent blowing ever furious against his skin as the pressure around them mounted. They were to be crushed between the two walls, Link knew, but he wasn't about to simply give up.

"This is precisely how I always knew I would perish," Revali complained bracing himself in the same manner as Link, "Stolen away from the eyes of the sky, trapped in some abominable tunnel of disgusting earth and silt!"

Link grumbled beneath the pressure rushing through his muscles as he pushed against the wall with as much force as he could muster, "Shut up and help me push!"

"Pah!" Revali shouted in complaint, though he did as he was told, his voice weakening behind a loud groan of frustration weighing upon him, "This… _stupid_… plot! I'll kill… that Goron… in… the nex-… -t life!"

Link shut his eyes, intensity welling up inside him as his legs helplessly pressed toward his chest beneath the weight of the stone rock sinking toward them. He gritted his teeth defiantly, despite knowing there was no use in doing so. Still, he knew better than to go down without a fight.

An echoing voice broke through some space in the solid wall at his back- Urbosa's. A _slam_ rang out that caught Link's attention as he tried to catch the words through the mercilessly loud churning of rock bursting through rock.

"DAMN IT!" Urbosa cried as she punched the wall once more, turning to face Mipha and Zelda, both with weapons at hand, "Well, ladies- Looks like we fight. How's that lantern holding up?"

Zelda's nerves too rattled to reply, Mipha reached a hand over to light up the rattling cage of lamplight, turning her head to peek out the cloudy visor of her helmet, "Oil's nearly gone."

"Well, in the darkness, we're-" she paused, her saddening eyes falling upon Zelda, who was on the verge of dropping her sword from the nerves of tremored terror coursing through her body.

Urbosa stepped toward her before pulling her into an embrace, forcing Zelda to speak through tearful innocence, "U- Ur-bosa… I- I don't-"

"Don't you say it," the Gerudo Queen commanded, "Don't even think it. Not until you're unable to entirely."

Mipha's upturned glance caught Urbosa's attention, the Zora noting, "There's one of those vents within the ceiling."

Turning a desperate stare to Urbosa, she ordered, "Take Zelda and head up there. You can climb sheer rock faces, correct?"

"Not when it requires leaving a friend behind, no," Urbosa retorted, her attention stripped from the women as a ear-piercing shriek echoed from down the hallway that now trapped them, blood-red eyes faintly appearing in the distance, covering each corner of their exit in a sick mass of defiled squeals and squirms.

A wavering knock broke through the other side of the stone wall at their backs, Revali's voice only faintly breaking through, "Gah!"

"Revali?!" Zelda cried, spinning around, "Are you there?!"

"Only for a moment!" Link quipped in an aggravated shout, "Any chance you could chisel on through in half a minute?"

Urbosa frowned, her eyes tearing up at the thought of her surrogate daughter joined in the same fate as her, "That swarm has us trapped."

She muttered only to herself, "I'm afraid we haven't much time ourselves…"

A thick moment of tense silence fell upon the two groups, separated by this massive obsidian wall, before Link finally shouted, "-Shut Up! Get Zelda out of here!"

Mipha whipped her head back toward Urbosa," See?! Zelda's the one of us that must get out of here! Just get her and-!"

"No…" Zelda spoke with a shaking voice, her head drawn toward her chest as she slowly turned back to face the oncoming threat.

Her voice broke in between tears, "I brought you all here. I don't deserve to flee when nobody else is able."

Mipha's eyes caught Urbosa's fir a brief moment before she replied, "Zelda, the fate of Hyrule- It's larger than any of us. but not you. If you don't leave- Hyrule may not have a future."

Zelda tilted her head upward, tears rolling down her face, turning the soot upon her face into smoky strands of tar that lined her cheeks, "Mipha, I-"

"KWAAARW!"

Urbosa readied her Sword, gritting her teeth, "Make your choice quick, child! Here they come!"

The roaring rumbles of the ceiling collapsing onto Link and Revali now met the angered cries of swarming ferocity coming to meet them, leaving Zelda firmly in place as she raised her hand gingerly, stepping back against the wall with her sword prepared to greet them in turn. Mipha sadly joined the two, worriedly biting her teeth as she threw her shoulders up to better adjust the suit that held tight against her body, readying her trident with wary eyes.

She knew the Company was to fail. to die down in these darkest depths of Eldin Mountain. She only wished that Zelda weren't among them.

If only she knew what Zelda had come to know.

* * *

"We take a right, here," Zelda nodded with an authoritative tone as she raised her head from the map spread from one hand to the other.

After leaving Zora's Domain, the troupe of Champions left Zorana as a whole, passing the Inogo Bridge and making their way northward along the teetering edge of Trilby Valley, the massive gorge of a footprint at the bottom of the mighty Eldin Mountains. Without much of a discussion, it was simply understood that Vah Rudania would be their next venture, however, strolling along the back end of Upland Zorana, Zelda had suddenly halted their advance.

Daruk s scrunched his forehead in confusion, pointing a sizable number of degrees away from the Princess' direction, "Uh, Zelda? Eldin is that way."

Nodding, Zelda assured, "I know. But if we're to ascend that mountain in the first place, there is, yet, something for us to do."

The Company as a whole turned their stares to Mipha, how quivered nervously beneath the purely debilitating number of eyes upon her, "Eh- Umm-…"

"Mipha is the only one among us with cold blood," Zelda explained in a scholarly voice that betrayed her knowledge when she honed so dangerously close toward her ability to randomly toss out odd diction.

Bringing a hand to her chin, she explained, "I read a book once about Zora physiology and the like. Ramaro and Kiloo, Zora and Rito scientists, respectfully, along with an unwitting Hylian manservant who they maybe, sort of forced to translate their findings- it's not concrete, but different historians point to various reasons from forced imprisonment indentured servitude for the Hylian's inclu-"

"_Zelda_," Urbosa coughed in a forced effort to reorient the young woman's attention.

"Right!" Zelda piped up, "They did a ton of research involving which climates Zora could adapt to beyond their 'static' environment that is, obviously, rather temperate. As we saw in Gerudo Desert, much of the Zora's biomechanisms rely upon their skin remaining moist so that they can better regulate themselves. That's why that gekari gel works so magnificently."

As if to bring up in note, Mipha dug through her pack to find the jar that Revali had bought her back in Kara Kara Bazaar, studying it herself, "Even in the desert, with this stuff on me, I never felt all that hot."

"Which is exceptionally good," Zelda nodded, "Were a Zora to get _too_ hot, Ramaro and Kiloo found, their body would undergo severely negative changes. Their natural enzymes would begin to break apart- their righting responses, which is their body's attempts to maintain its natural balance, begin to fail, eventually leading to an onset of spasms when the body is simply trying anything to return to a habitable zone to survive."

Zelda nodded with interest, eyes gleaming, "The body literally ignores the brain! The spinal cord more or less enters a primal state of survival; much like how Hylians- when we drown, our brains literally fail to function, and our bodies simply flail about, seeking any source of survival! Fascinating, right?!"

Covering a cough of his own, Link looked away, "In a manner of speaking, I suppose…"

"Briefly, please," Urbosa asked impatiently.

Zelda sighed, "Mipha will die if we aren't prepared to ascend Eldin Mountain properly."

"Could you not have mentioned that without all the puffing up your knowledge?" Revali complained with a frown.

With a frown of her own, Zelda's lips scrunched up distastefully, "I'm simply trying to cover all of our bases. From the start, I wanted us all to be apart of each leg of this journey. That was the point."

Furrowing worriedly, Zelda brow fell as she turned toward Mipha, "That said, the last thing I want is to impart even further danger upon any of you."

Mipha watched her blankly, though with a look that implied deep thought before replying with a smile, "I would not allow anybody to claim the Zora as ill-participants because I failed to accompany you the entire way. So long as there's a way to-"

"Oh, there's a way!" Zelda exclaimed suddenly, rushing toward Mipha and hugging her tightly in thanks, "One of my mother's good friends, Purah- she deals with experimental mechanisms and phenomenon mostly, however-"

She pointed down the path leading toward Akkala, "She always said that if I needed anything for _this_ time and place, I should visit Doctor Robbie. He's an old student of hers; I thought if anybody had any ideas of getting a Zora up a volcano, it'd be him!"

"Robbie?" Link suddenly spoke up incredulously, "Doesn't he largely deal with Guardian technology?"

Zelda agreed, "He does, yes, but he delves into many engineering matters."

"Engineering?" Daruk suddenly wondered.

Covering her face, Urbosa sighed, "I see where her mind has taken her. She _did_ bring up Mipha's skin a moment ago…"

"A suit, exactly!" Zelda broke out in exclamation, "Look! Mipha is cold-blooded, but that's a misnomer- she's simply _less_ heated as the rest of us, albeit to an extreme degree, literally. If Robbie could construct a suit that aids her skin in regulating her body temperature-"

"PFFT HA HA!" Revali released a boisterous laugh as his body thrashed about in elation.

Zelda crossed her arms with a huff, "What?! I'm serious!"

Revali failed to contain his laughter, but managed nonetheless between the bouts of humor, "But-! But you're-! Bwah ha ha! You're content with- PFFT!- making her a goldfish!"

His frame fell over as he held is waist as his laughter carried on, even catching Daruk with a series of his own chuckling. Zelda frowned at the spectacle, though it was Mipha who stepped forward to command attention.

"Zelda," she spoke up, ignoring the two nearby, "If you believe this as a means to accomplish this mission- I'm more than happy to try it out."

Now smiling, Zelda nodded toward her, "I'm not sure, but- If Robbie can come up with something, it may very well be possible."

"And if not," Link suddenly interjected, catch both Mipha and Zelda's attention, "Regardless of narratives, it would be best if she did not ascend herself."

Mipha's eyes narrowed uncertainly while Zelda questioned, "I agree, but-"

"She's already proven far more than any one of us would have hoped at the outset of this journey," Link confirmed, "Nobody would fault her for not treading so close to that line between life and death."

Zelda's eyes remained puzzled only until she recognized why Link was being incessant, though Urbosa's voice broke past her shoulder, catching her off guard, "Speaking for a Zora Princess now, boy?"

Shrugging, Link answered professionally enough, "I'm a soldier. There's no reason to threaten the life of a single soldier when, often enough, one soldier is the only thing between the success and failure of a unit."

Hoping to resolve the rising tension, Mipha spoke up, the last thing she wanted being Urbosa prying out unneeded answered about she and Link, "Ur- Urbosa, I can assure you that Link isn't speaking for me. I'm not stupid enough to trudge up a volcano unless we're certain of anything. At this point, I'm simply curious in Zelda's idea."

"As you should be!" Zelda spoke up proudly, "Robbie has provided Hyrule Kingdom with many brilliant accouchements that, while rather unnotable, were interesting nonetheless!"

Revali broke the tension with his diminishing laughter, "Yes! Yes! We must see his work! I would be awestruck to witness him constructing a cage for me!"

Urbosa eyed Daruk with a wry expression, "I've heard of children carrying around rocks as pets, as well, you know."

"A cage for the Goron too, then!" Revali cackled, shaking his head and sending tears flying from his face, "BAH HA HA!"

Link noted quietly, "This is the first time Robbie's work has caused laughter. It usually results in glazed-over stares by how strange it all is."

"To be sure, for strange problems, strange solutions may yet be best," Zelda reasoned, "In any case, before heading toward Eldin, we shall make a slight detour to the east, up toward Deep Akkala. Any objections?"

"Question!" Daruk spoke up with a raised finger, "There are stories about Akkala- that it's mostly plains."

Link smirked, "The gourmet might not be the best for you, no."

Throwing a fist through the air with a disenchanted swing, Daruk frowned, "Drat…"

Giggling silently to herself, Zelda readied her backpack with a hop into the air, "Alright, let's head on out! It shouldn't take us more than a day or two to reach the cape at the edge of Akkala. Now would be an excellent time for a story!"

"About Akkala, or-?" Urbosa wondered quizzically.

"Sure!" Zelda sprung lightly, "Link, didn't your father spend much of his time patrolling these lands?"

He nodded, "He did, yes."

"So? Regale us!" she insisted, "I wasn't able to go through your family's records entirely, and once we started getting along, I figured it was a moot point. I've been wondering what makes a Royal Knight, to be honest."

Her expression fell, "I know the history of this place has been rather…unfortunate as of late."

"I suppose I would know that more than anybody," Link admitted easily enough, "My father died out here."

Shock painted Zelda's face, "I-! …sorry."

With an assured voice, Link tilted his head to signal his own indifference, "No need to be. He died in the line of duty. Far worse fates await many, but not him."

"Surely you feel _something_, Brother," Daruk wondered, "We Gorons tread lives that far outlast any of you, yet we still mourn."

Link shrugged, "I didn't know him much to begin with. He often worked double duty after I came about, making up for my mother, who remained home to raise me. When he did return home, it wasn't to explain how he was assaulting unruly citizens. That was the last thing he wanted to return home to."

He turned to the others, "For the histories between Hyrule Kingdom and the Zora, or even the Rito, we seem to have often saved the worst of them for our own people."

"Bah," Revali dismissed, striking the air with a slashing motion, "Would you care to explain away the culling of Rito in Southern Tabantha?"

Link shot him a glare, "I dismiss nothing. I'm not proud of everything my Kingdom has done; and while it doesn't make me less of a knight to say that, I can only hope to create a brighter future by my service."

An angry expression showing upon Revali's face, the Rito offered, "You speak so often of unfailing loyalty. So if your King were to ask you to kill a Rito child, you would do as he asked."

Zelda muttered softly, "He wouldn't-"

"You would _do_ as he asked," Revali repeated to silence Zelda's retort.

Link's brow narrowed, though he hadn't much of an answer, simply replying with a weak, "It depends."

"Pshaw," Revali scoffed with unwavering distaste, "No wonder your father was content with, as you said, saving the most horrible histories for his own people. We Rito wouldn't dare do such a thing."

Rolling her eyes, Urbosa simply aimed to end Revali's hypocrisy, "Says the Rito so ostracized by his own kind."

"Only to better my existence," Revali shot back, "Leaving me be to strengthen myself was a far better fate than, as the Hylian put it, assaulting me."

"Okay!" Zelda cried out, throwing her arms out to halt the conversation, "I asked for _stories_, not arguments!"

"Hmph," Revali groaned as he brought his arms crossed into his chest, "I will submit, then; if only to entertain these tales of Hyrule Kingdom's denigration of its own people."

Zelda replied with a dishearted tone, "No. We will talk about something else. Daruk, maybe- Do you have any-"

"I don't mind continuing," Link shrugged, "Akkala was inhabited by Hylians hoping to largely escape the life beneath the reaches of the King. A tense confederation already, it would escalate during droughts or famine; there was always a disagreement between Hyrule and Akkala over just how responsible the King was over these people. They wanted little to do with Hyrule Kingdom, yet requested aid during tumultuous times. The Akkalans were always wary of the Kingdom taking advantage of them and ending their sovereignty of farmers and outliers."

Link continued, "It grew worse over time. Given its animosities toward Hyrule Kingdom, the Yiga managed to sprout up here, a conglomeration of Shiekah-led individuals who found all the membership they would ever need in the angered masses of Akkala. Eventually, the King withdrew aid altogether to send a message, only angering the Akkalans further. When aid returned, it came along with patrolling bands of soldiers, my father among them, to ensure that the Yiga weren't planning assaults upon our own Kingdom."

"Then, the tensions boiled over," Link explained, "A Hyrule soldier sought out shelter one night in the home of an Akkalan farmer. He must have been a kind fellow, as many Akkalans would've refused outright, but despite his generosity, something happened that night, and the soldier was killed. The Akkalans claimed he had assaulted the farmer's daughter, while Hyrule stroked their ability to bring up exemplary soldiers who wouldn't do such things. Angry riots broke out, aimed toward the clusters of Hyrule soldiers who were simply there to root out enemies. Not two weeks after the worst skirmishes began, my father's body was returned home."

Link offered simply, "I'm just explaining what happened. Despite what the bird suggests, I don't condone it one way or the other. Tension still remains, from what I know, but it's been largely quelled by King Rhoam. He seems to be more concerned with improved relations, whether that means a more dangerous Yiga threat."

Her lips turned in painful sadness, Zelda confirmed, "He believes a more unified confederation between Hyrule Kingdom and Akkala is a large enough force to keep the Yiga at bay."

Daruk scratched his head, "I apologize for not knowing, but Hyrule politics don't often reach the tops of Death mountain. Who are the Yiga?"

This time, it was Zelda who replied, "They are Sheikah who, unlike the kind inhabitants of Kakariko Village, wish to harm Hyrule Kingdom, or rather, the establishment as a whole. They see the world's shunning of ancient Sheikah technology to be a horrible disgrace to their ancestors, while the Sheikah who inhabit Kakariko chose to live peacefully among us today."

"Uhh," Daruk worrifully muttered in reply, "But aren't _we_ handling ancient Sheikah technology..?"

Zelda smiled, "Only to better understand it. The Yiga are far more interested in using it to bring the world to an end, believing it to be necessary to bring their own god into opposition against Hylia and all the goddess stands for. I'd like to believe we're doing it for the right reasons."

"You'd _like_ to," Urbosa noted, simply playing devil's advocate, "What do you truly believe?"

Grinning rather unconvincingly, Zelda impishly replied, "Well… That's why I have you all. If anything were to go wrong- Certainly Hyrule's Champions would be able to rise to the occasion."

"Fair enough," Daruk completed with a smirk, "Surely you know who all to rely upon when it comes to Hyrule's safety!"

Revali's eyes nearly burst from their sockets as Daruk threw an arm around his shoulders to pull him closer, "Even Revali-!"

"Unhand me!" the Rito shrieked at the top of his lungs, unable to escape the man's grasp.

"Even Revali has convinced me of his prowess in battle!" Daruk declared as Revali stewed under his arm, giving up after realizing there was no escape.

The Rito charged beneath a breath, "Allow me to demonstrate that _now_…"

The Champions reached the massive incline that rose above the pathway to Eldin, along the chalky-white cliffs of Zorana that loomed overhead. As the commotion amongst them died down, Zelda pressed on with an attempt to seek out conversation.

"I hadn't been here before Link and I came here a few months ago," she spoke up, "I suppose we _still_ are here on business, but hopefully we may be able to better admire its offerings this time around."

Mipha spoke up with interest, "I've heard that it has some palatable finds as far as fishing goes. From atop Zorana Mountain, we often scope out schools as they migrate along the coastline."

"You think we might find some for more of that sushi we had back at the Domain?!" Daruk questioned passionately.

Smiling gleefully, Mipha replied, "I'd be happy to make some if we come across some. I suppose if we're planning a trip atop Death Mountain, we'll need to take food along, won't we?"

"Correct!" agreed Zelda dutifully, "Once we get to Robbie's Workshop, we'll discuss food, our water situation, since I'm sure it won't be a day-long endeavor. Anything we'll need, as well as a plan logistics-wise, which I hope Daruk will be exceptional with. Where to go for the most viable route to Vah Rudania."

Daruk nodded, "Understood, though that will prove to be rather difficult. Vah Rudania isn't stationary like Vah Ruta was; he skitters along the whole of Death Mountain, seemingly aware of the different geysers through which magma spills out from the mountain and covering them so that we are not in any harm."

"Bingo!" Zelda shouted, insistently poking Link's shoulder, "Write that down! As I suspected, the Divina Beasts are largely built for the peoples inhabiting their sphere of influence!"

Daruk furrowed his brow in thought, "I suppose so, though I haven't thought much about it. He can't be everywhere, so we still have the occasional spurts of magma rocks, but he's always there for the massive eruptions. That said, he travels around the anterior of the mountain, while also crawling into its most massive crater amongst the top of Eldin."

"I suppose we'll have to figure out how to tackle it from either direction, since I doubt it will wait for us," Urbosa sighed, shaking her head as her palm came to rest atop her forehead, "Halfway complete, and _now_ the trek becomes troublesome…"

Zelda giggled at the Gerudo's implication that the journey _hadn't_ yet been difficult, but understood her all the same. She knew that this leg of the journey would test the Champions, even more than it had these last few moments; but that was why she had chosen this assortment of Champions in the first place.

She knew that, whatever might come to challenge them, they would succeed.

Or so she hoped.

* * *

**_A/N: So, Zora biology is so far up in the air that anything would be considered head-canon. They have traits of, both, mammals and amphibians/reptiles; however, for my own purposes (as well as thematically speaking) I've chosen to make them more like amphibians- i.e. cold-blooded. _**

**_I actually consulted legitimate herpetologist Dr. Sara Ruane to direct me to proper documentation about amphibians and reptiles in extreme conditions, so Zelda's lecture on what would happen to Mipha atop Death Mountain is, largely, scientifically founded- or, at least, however much can be attributed to science in the world of Hyrule. _**

**_Add this to the list of topics I've come to understand QUITE well as a result of inclusion in fan-fiction. I also learned FAR more about ballet than I ever thought I would for 'Lacroix' xD_**

**_In any case, I hope you enjoy this penultimate part of the story! Two more to go :D_**


	38. Revelation and Negotiation

Link allowed his eyes to trail along the starry sky for a brief moment as he strode back toward the campsite the Company had constructed, still focused on the pain at his shoulder that remained seared upon his muscles there. He had gone out to examine the landscape ahead for any signs of potential trouble, particularly given the Yiga's foothold out here, though had come across nothing, a result that offered little in practicality, but allowed Link a somewhat clearer mind nonetheless.

He skulked down atop a hill to find the campfire greeting him a few more strides along, the site strategically placed to prevent the flames from peeking over the embankment and potentially rousing interest. He gave his shoulder a final soothing massage before stepping into the small ring of orange-lit, flickering fire light, immediately stepping into conversation.

"-but still, a Goron knows their own limits!" Daruk proudly recited, "Despite my status as a Champion of the Gorons, in our eyes, 'might' is not measured in insurmountable deeds. Rather, it's about having the presence of mind to understand your own limitations and acting accordingly."

Roaming along his chin, his finger stopped to tap at his skin, "All Gorons are rather mighty by your standards, you must admit. What sets the greatest of us apart is how able we are to make difficult decisions. How able we are to better provide for our people; how economical we are with the abilities granted us."

Mipha nodded with interest, while Revali had spun away, picking at the tufts of feathers atop his hand absently, leaving Daruk to conclude with a chuckle, pointing to Link, "Now I know _he_ teases, and you might think I've got little more than food on my mind, but I assure you-"

"Where's Zelda?" Link wondered aloud, earning him an abrupt glance from Daruk as the Goron assured in reply.

"She went with Urbosa to gather water, so they said," Daruk grinned.

Link's brow went crooked, "So they said?"

"Who knows!" Daruk shrugged amusedly, "Come now, she is in more capable hands than even myself!"

Sighing, Link dropped his shoulders while trudging toward a broken leg that served as a bench, leaving Daruk to exclaim, "Now! I was just regaling our Zora with a few tales of Goron greatness! or, in my case-"

"Ah," Link nodded with indifference, turning to aim a droll expression toward Mipha, "This is his Boulder Breaker story."

Terrified, Daruk threw his hands out before him, waving them wildly in denial, "W-Well it's not _that_ impressive if you speak it like that! You must pronounce it with all the flames of Death Mountain coursing through your stomach!"

The Goron rose to his feet, raising his arms in a triumphant pose, the ground rattling as he roared, "The _Boulder_ Breaker!"

Mipha giggled at his performance, politely hiding her face as she inquired, "What is this boulder breaker?"

"Well, my sword!" Daruk explained happily, drawing a diagram in the air as he further iterated, "About _this_ long, and _this_ wide. A monster of a weapon, she is! Not much for slicing, as she's constructed from the strongest rock known to us Gorons! with help from a few ancient Sheikah materials, of course."

Link spoke up, amused by Daruk's grandiose tone, "Any guess as to how it got its name?"

Quickly, Daruk reached over in a nervous flash to cover Link's face, though Link grabbed his arm, pushing himself away as the two tussled, the Hylian chuckling as he broke free an explanation, "Daruk-!"

"No!" Daruk pleaded, desperate to bring Link to pause.

"It wasn't any noble thing," Link battled, "He literally thought it was fun to- Ow!- smash random-ass boulders when he was younger."

Mipha grinned as Daruk gave up his fight, covering his face ashamedly while the Zora giggled, "I see. It _did_ sound like the name of a child's design."

As if triumphant in his attempt to make light of the situation, Goron pumped up his chest, "Perhaps so, but it is not the name, but the reputation! I've since carried that sword to many victories. Much like the Gorons themselves, it manages to live beyond its mere image."

Link brushed off his tunic, shaking his head, "Now he just uses it to frighten passersby."

"H-Hey now! Don't give them the wrong idea!" Daruk managed quickly.

Link gave a mischievous grin, "My unit was merely passing by when a gaggle of Gorons hopped out from outta nowhere, encircling us with weapons drawn, sending the entire unit dashing away as if there were no tomorrow."

"It was simply a practical joke!" assured Daruk nervously, "Albeit in slightly poor taste, but-"

His nerves wavered long enough for a proud grin to stretch across his face, "Had it not occurred, however, I might never have met this stone of a man!"

Link nodded, "I was the only one who remained upon the trail, sword drawn, while Daruk and his buddies chased all the others off."

"Indeed!" Daruk praised, patting Link heartily on the back, allowing Mipha a warm smile at the show of comradery, "Little did I know, then, how well known he'd become in my township. The little Hylian who met defeat, yet made himself as large as a boulder!"

Mipha's brow narrowed, "Wait, defeat? I always thought Link had, you know-"

"Out-wrestled a Goron?!" Daruk chortled with amusement, "I severely doubt any Hylian could! Yet, despite his magnanimous foe, Link accepted the challenge, and put the work in, at that."

He nodded, "Like I said. For Gorons, it's not the size or shape of your body; it's how it's used. Link, here, with such a puny frame- he makes it seem like the body of an ox!"

"Puny?" Link inquired with a wiry glance.

Daruk retorted nervously, "Eh, that was simply the consensus of my tribesman! at the time, of course."

Mipha's voice broke the air as she spoke up amidst a giggle, "That's quite a nice story."

"Indeed!" Daruk roared happily, "Not long afterward, I asked for his bond in sworn brotherhood. Without blood ties, we Gorons offer such things, but I knew with this one-"

He sized Link up with a subtly prideful look, "I knew he was to be something special."

"Geez," Link shrugged, hiding a smirk, "You make it sound so weird."

"There's nothing weird about the bonds of brotherhood!" Daruk assured, slamming a fist into Link's back just hard enough to nearly launch him from his seat.

Link slowly recovered with a seething groan, leaving Daruk to sit by the fire as a contented sigh left him, "I'm quite thrilled for you all to see my home! I do hope Zelda's plan is fruitful! You may just be the first Zora to see my township!"

Mipha smiled with a nod, "I would be truly honored of the opportunity. From what I've heard, it's quite the chummy environment, what with all the knuckle-dusting and iron being pumped around."

"Well, I hate to brag," Daruk began right as he thought to brag, though his mind wondered at the last moment, thinking aloud, "I am often astonished by the differences that come about all of your people when it comes to men and women. I mean, I understand you have different appearances, but when it comes down to the mechanics-"

Link's eyes widened before turning toward Daruk in a haste, "Daruk, don't-"

"I mean, we Gorons are never concerned with such trivial matters as- You know when I charge up to my buddy, Notaga, and slam a fist into his chest, it's no thing; but if Hylians or Zora would to do that-"

He quizzically raised his hands up to resemble uneven scales, thinking of such things of these social mechanics, finding Link quickly replying in a quick manner, hoping to avoid much of anything embarrassing, "I- It's probably best not to think about it. I mean, some of it- _I_ don't even understand."

"Hmm, I suppose they are complicated matters," Daruk sighed, "It is quite troublesome understanding such things as mating when you, yourself-"

His gaze wandered toward Link, who began coughing profusely , having accidentally swallowed something unprepared while Mipha averted her eyes in nervous reverie, crossing her arms while her brow fell.

"What?" Daruk wondered with sincerity.

At that, Revali sputtered around finally, spitting vitriol in his voice, "He _already_ requested an end to your incessant questioning about sex! And I, _myself_, am quite content with hearing nothing further! So if you would _please_ indulge us and knock it off!"

The Rito returned to his anti-social position, leaving a rather complicated series of thoughts lingering in the air, leaving Link embarrassed, Mipha nervous, and Daruk with a curious look on his face. The Goron remained silent for a moment, stroking his beard for a moment before inquiring like a child unable to resist prodding at a dog until bitten.

"Do the Rito not also do such things?" Daruk inquired earnestly.

Revali's body visibly tensed up as his head slid forward. Gradually turning over his shoulder, his face peered toward Daruk with a visibly furious expression, his hands curled into claws as he spattered with venom on his tongue.

"Knock… it… off…"

Daruk burst into laughter, rocking back and forth in his seated position as he turned to Link, "I'm only kidding! You thought it was funny, did you not?!"

"Funny like a heart attack," Link sighed as he began stoking the flames, seeking contentedness that such complicated matters as earlier seemed to have now fallen to the wayside.

* * *

An hour passed, and then another. The flames had gradually died down as the Company began to find sleep for the evening, leaving Link as the sole one awake to keep watch, himself content with the fire dying down to better conceal their position. He made sure to allow just enough light, as Urbosa and Zelda had yet to return, a worry beginning to grow within him, even if he knew that Zelda might be in even better hands than if she were solely alongside Link. He pondered over what might have caused their absence, only to stop himself before downright conjecture entered his mind, instead turning to poking at the fire and focusing on the dark forms that sat atop the horizon.

At some point in the deepening dark of night, two shapes came into silhouetted view as Zelda and Urbosa returned, the lamplight of the campfire allowing a cursory glance from Link to notice the reddened face of Zelda, her eyes stricken with tire as she silently worked her sleeping pack free, crawling in and lying down to sleep without a word as Urbosa watched with concern. Her eyes darted toward Link until they met stares, the Gerudo cocking her head backward to signal to Link in silence, forcing the Knight to rise to his feet, careful to avoid Daruk's ravenously strewn body as the Goron slept.

The two stepped away from the camp just outside of earshot before Urbosa stopped her advance, turning to field an immediate question from Link, "What were you two doing?"

Shrugging, Urbosa answered simply, "Training. She requested training with the sword."

"The sw-" Link quickly interjected, "_I'm_ her sword. She's the _Princess_; have you any idea how the King would react were he to discover this?"

Urbosa's eyes narrowed, "She asked this of me and I decided to accept. I had a problem, however."

"Beyond allowing a Princess to take a weapon?" Link shot with verbal force.

"You know, she's more capable than you might give her credit for," Urbosa shrugged, "I know you two had your difficulties at first, but she's surprised even me during this excursion."

Yanking her lips with a look of deference, Urbosa quipped, "Perhaps it's simply due to her being a woman?"

Link's eyes narrowed, knowing Urbosa was looking to bait him into some amusing response, though instead of retaliating with a heated tone that she might have expected, his voice dimmed as he muttered quietly, lowering his head, "Don't think so little of _me_."

His eyes raised only to peer up toward her own, "I've been very lucky to serve a King whose aims have been benevolent on the whole. Even beyond my fealty being bought through food and shelter-"

"To Revali's earlier point, no, I wouldn't follow an order than led me to kill an innocent person," Link admitted coolly, "I'm not merely protecting her to follow orders, though I would follow my King to the ends of Hyrule. I'm protecting the woman who will one day be my Queen- one beneath whom it will be easy for me to serve, knowing she's only thinking of what is just and kind."

A scowl crept across his face as he glanced up toward Urbosa, "Now, I ask again. Why are you allowing my Princess the ability to get herself killed?"

Perhaps not expecting such a sincere response, Urbosa's expression weakened with a groan, "Well if you're gonna- She just wants to feel a part of this Company. She's asking us to sacrifice ourselves for the cause. She would like to offer the same as any one of us."

Link's expression was left unchanged, his mind unconvinced, forcing Urbosa to tilt her head to the side, "Surely you understand her guilt at being the only one standing while the rest of us were nearly plucked from this life- being a soldier and all."

"She brought us all out here, some through rather devious means, to accomplish some unfathomable task; a task that, were it to be deemed unsuccessful, would leave the lot of us as laughingstocks for treading across the whole of Hyrule on the whim of some child," Urbosa noted plainly, "Imagine _that_ legacy. one that she would never step from beneath its shadow."

Her eyes narrowed, "Of course, you know how it would have felt, were one of us to die back there. Wondering, endlessly, incessantly- blaming yourself. What could you have done different?"

Urbosa concluded easily, "You pick up a sword. and if my child has the best of intentions, I would rather her know how to handle such a thing than allowing her to wildly act should she feel so compelled to do so."

Link thought of his mother. Whether or not that had been Urbosa's intention, he didn't know.

"What did you call me over here for?" Link asked, avoiding treading deeper into that topic of discussion.

Urbosa's eyes left him, wavering toward the darkening horizon of midnight, "I need you to train her."

An immediate sigh of exasperation left Link's lips, his eyes rolling for but a brief moment before charging, "I don't even want you _allowing_ this, and yet you would like me to not only advocate it, but be responsible for it?!"

Urbosa's lips tugged to the side, "I agreed to teach her, but- there were unforeseen side effects; namely, I think I'm too rough of an opponent to teach her, or anybody at her skill level."

"And I am?" Link wondered pithily.

The Gerudo shrugged, "You pulled your punches- or, rather, your kick. Back when that Watcher tried to stab you."

Link stared at her with a rising upset.

"That's why you fell on your ass, right? You were supposed to press your momentum forward and overtake him at the point of contact between his hands and spear, yet you forced yourself backward under the guise of the inexperience of time," Urbosa muttered, rather surgically.

Uncertain of his place after such a critique, Link challenged, "So? Just pull _your_ punches."

"I can't," Urbosa admitted, a crestfallen look crossing her face while her lips spun upward in a wayward smile that held an insurmountable heartache with it.

A weak chuckle left her, as if realizing how silly she was appearing, though she quietly submitted, "As you know, I cannot have children of my own. Not unless-"

She turned her lips, "Zelda, through my friendship with her mother, became so, so very much like a daughter to me. I cared for her when she was in swaddling clothes, I rushed to her aid with medicine when she was sick. I cried over her when our visits were cut short.:

"Goddess, there was so much I wanted to teach her. Her mother was restricted by her father and her- well, let's face it- lack of worldliness. I was sort of Zelda's 'outlet' to the outside world, but- I was so excited when her eyes glazed over when I spoke up Lanayru winters, when the wind chills your skin so much it rather feels like burning, or when I talked about stories and legends. That must've been when she got into all that stuff, but I can assure you, I never intended her to, you know, get lost in it all."

A sad grin left her, "But I always knew I was a bad role model. For all I could hope to impart to her, I knew- My fate is such that I would never be anything more to her than a cautionary tale; my life nothing but a tale of wretchedness."

Link felt his shoulders tense, uncomfortable with the overall air surrounding the two of them, but unable to find the will to stop her from continuing.

"From the day I was born, purely Gerudo, my body was not mine to wrest alone," Urbosa spoke up coldly, "My skin, my heartbeat- my womb. I'm nothing but a vessel to be carted to that inevitable moment when evil itself takes from me everything I would kill to ensure Zelda remains in possession of."

Link noticed a tremble at her arm.

"My child has freedom I will never know. I've spent her lifetime trying to be strong- trying to convince her to live one life while so evilly living another."

Her breath left her in cold respite, "I've shown enough weakness to that child. Not when I've yet to demonstrate the depths to which I'll descend- what I'll surrender. If only for my people."

Link lowered his head. A hand slowly reached to his neck, scratching at his skin in an attempt to feign indifference.

His eyes suddenly returned to her, "I-"

Paused. Her hair trailing in wind, the same could not be said for the two strands of tears streaking down her cheek atop a stone-still face, her eyes peering out into the distance, and yet, so far into the future. To a point so inevitable, yet, so revolting.

"I'll think about it," Link mustered, rubbing his neck while respectfully turning his gaze back toward the ground.

He heard Urbosa offer a slight chuckle, "My life has been a ravenous attempt to do enough good to offset what will later come of me. If I can facilitate Zelda gaining the ability to deny what I must accept, I can only hope that will lead to a efflorescent stream of good."

Softly, she completed, "Thank you."

Running his hand to rub his nose, Link's eyes jolted to the side, "Well, it's not every night people reveal so much. Not without alcohol, anyway."

"I assure you, I have good stories, too," Urbosa grinned weakly as she wiped the tears from her face.

Without a thought, Link replied simply, hoping to alleviate the dour air with a joke, "Well, we've got enough drink back at camp to possibly reach that point."

He heard a stifled giggle that left his eyes to peer toward Urbosa as she watched him carefully, "Were you making a pass at me?"

"Goddess, no," Link fired back with a brow furrowed in frustration.

Urbosa put on a whimpering frown, "So mean!"

Realizing he'd given her the exact reaction she'd been denied moments earlier, Link groaned before shaking his head, "You know, you only _think_ you're being funny."

"Humor is subjective, boy," she quipped.

Link gave a droll reply as Urbosa strode toward him to make her way back to the camp, "Only if it's good."

A smirk crept across Urbosa's face at his wit, her eyes finding his face as she made her way to his side. As Link turned to follow her, his attention was marred by Urbosa's form having encroached upon him, though before he could jolt back in recoil, she had grabbed his shoulder, not in any forceful manner, but in a gentleness so uncharacteristic of the woman before him. Link's brow spun in confusion, the motion occurring so quickly that he hadn't a moment to process Urbosa's face gently leaning in close.

She reached her head in for a kiss, a moment of intense shock registering in Link's mind before throwing his hands up to push her away, though her body remained firmly in place while his feet slid backward atop the soft ground beneath them.

"W- What was that?!" Link asked in a tizzy.

Urbosa shrugged, "You listened to me. and you were rather cute for a moment there. I thought boys liked that sort of thing."

Instinctively running his wrist along his lips, Link assertively questioned, "What b- Which guys have you been speaking to?!"

"You needn't tread far from Gerudo Town to-" Urbosa began, though quickly came to a pause as her eyes fell in utter critique upon Link's face, an unnerving tremor sputtering down his spine as a smirk appeared there atop her lips.

"What one is it?"

Link jolted upward, "I- I beg your pardon?!"

Urbosa pestered further, "I know you're a loyal enough boy, but loyalty only diminishes with distance. For such a rabid attempt to escape a kiss so benign…"

Unable to reply, Link knew, particularly because his stammering reply had given this woman all she would ever need in the way of evidence, it left the floor firmly in Urbosa's grasp as she goaded, "So which is it? Mipha or Zelda? I must warn you, if it is _my_ _child_\- boy, I assure you, there is _much_ left for you to prove."

"I'm not-!"

Her eyes tightened devilishly, "or does that 'brotherhood' thing reach farther than I know?"

Link gave the only reply he could, really, along with surrendering his post with a quick spin toward the campfire, sputtering out with frustration, "Shut up!"

Watching him off with an amused laugh, Urbosa shook her head, sighing to herself as she trailed along behind him, walking slowly to appreciate the breeze flowing around her, before quietly muttering to herself in no assuring terms.

"Goddess, all these young people…"


	39. Heated, Humid Tension

The air surrounding the Company remained acrid due to the weight permeating amongst the group, particularly stemming from Link and Zelda's silence, leaving Daruk and Mipha slightly confused as if they had missed something. Despite the thick air of tension that hung over the group, the air grew rather humid as well as the Champions made their way deeper into Akkala, where the cliffsides along the sea allowed little of the breezy sea air to battle against the roaring hot air bellowing along the plains from the Eldin Mountains, making this land muggy, but also ripe for the farming that it grew to be known for.

Nightfall seemed an ironic respite. As the sun fell, the humidity remained, leaving much of the group to notice the hot air even more. Revali picked at his plumage to try and keep the air from altering that delicate chemistry atop his skin and quills, frowning at the maintenance required. Mipha had also required her own maintenance, applying gekari gel to her scales to prevent herself from overheating due to the blistering swathes of air that lapped at their bodies.

The Company managed to stumble upon the East Akkala Stable before the sun had returned entirely, leaving the final stretch of the Akkalan expedition for tomorrow, mostly due to the lethargy now combatting the Champions. As it came into view, Daruk gave a vigorous sigh of appreciation, despite the lack of effect the atmosphere had upon him.

"Ahhh, finally!" he cried happily, "Finally, some rest!"

"Rest," Urbosa chuckled before shooting him a glance, "You mean food."

Daruk shrugged, "Well, if the shoes match! Even so, our gait has slowed progressively. I can tell the lot of you are probably exhausted from the day's journeying."

Despite Link and Zelda's silence, Mipha replied, "If this hot air is a test run for Death Mountain, I suppose we truly are in need of some creative means to continue our visitations of the Divine Beasts."

She lifted an arm, watching her hand with worry, "Gekari gel seems to lose some of its properties in this weather as well…"

"Revali? Would you like some now?" Mipha inquired, having been turned down hours earlier.

He shook his head, "No. I'm having a difficult enough time perpetuating the cultivation of my skin through preening alone. Adding more chemistry would do more harm than good, I assure you."

Mipha nodded with understanding, though this only forced her attention to return to her own skin, her scales seemingly constricting under the viscous gel inlaid between them.

"Ahh," Urbosa sighed with grandiosity, turning her head to the side, "So much talk these last few weeks about everybody else, and now- Now it's _my_ time to shine."

Revali's eyes darted toward the Gerudo, knowing where she was taking her words, Urbosa chiding, "Perhaps one of these days, you all might inherit something similar to the roughhewn skin of us Gerudo to carry you through anything these skies might force upon you."

Knowing she was mocking him, Revali merely lowered his head once again to nibble at his feathers, trying to spread out the secretions that kept them powerfully bound to his body. Slightly disappointed to not how received an outburst, Urbosa simply turned her attention to Zelda, slowing to her stride.

"How're you holding up?"

Zelda's tired eyes still drooping, she muttered, "Tired and gross."

With the suddenness of a mother in aid of a child, Urbosa fired a forceful tone toward Link, "Boy! What does the Eastern Akkala Stable offer?"

Link caught her with his own incredulous look, surprised of her tone before replying lowly, "…I would assume much the same as all the others."

"So private quarters, perhaps? I made sure to bring a few luxury soaps along, if Zelda requires them," Urbosa noted fondly, catching Daruk's excited expression.

"Ooh!" he shouted with interest.

Urbosa's eyes narrowed, "Skin only, I'm afraid."

Shrugging with new disinterest, Daruk returned to his thoughts of dinner, leaving Urbosa to curl her arm along Zelda's shoulders to pull her into her side, "Fear not. We'll have dinner and get you taken care of, child. Depending how long we're at this Robbie fellow's, this might be the last chance at relaxation for some time."

"You're not wrong," Daruk noted tensely, "I've been going over possible routes up toward Vah Rudania and- Well, there aren't many paths that won't be a few days, round trip; and that's just in general. There's no telling where Vah Rudania will be once we ascend."

Urbosa sighed, "Our odds are already vastly outweighing us. How about we forget the journey, at least for this evening?"

"For once, I agree," Revali grumbled in dismay, still biting at himself.

A fretful look appeared upon Daruk's face as if disappointed, now that he was offering some introspective thought, albeit out of character for him, though Link was quick to assure him, knocking a fist playfully against the Goron's arm.

"Don't worry; dinner will put you in the same column as the rest of us."

Now smiling fondly, Daruk nodded, "Ah, you are correct. I can already smell it from this distance… Fried apples, sautéed heron…"

"Hey, I take offense to that," Revali snarled with distress, though his own abraised skin left him unable to press on and ignore his preening.

"Gah!" Daruk shouted, taking off ahead of the group as the stable appeared not far off, "I'll save some seats about the campfire!"

The ground rumbled with furious stomps as Daruk made a dash for the lowly populated stable, Link's eyes raised in bemused surprise, speaking up indifferently, "I honestly didn't expect him to last _this_ long."

"At least he should have dinner ready by the time we arrive," Mipha smiled, though it gradually darkened as her thoughts broadened, returned by Urbosa's sudden retort.

"Unless he's sitting there, alone… with a pot of stew… by himself…"

Revali's pithy glance found its way toward Urbosa as the Gerudo quickly swooped down to pick up Zelda in her arms, turning to the others with a zeal well-placed within a chieftain of her caliber, "Alright, let's hurry, then!"

"Hold on!" Link charged, "So spider hordes and food? _That's_ what breaks our ranks?!"

Without reply, Urbosa took off toward the stable herself with Zelda in hand, allowing Revali to sputter with disgust, "_Evidently_."

Link was left awash with shame, though a gentle tug at his sleeve caused his head to turn and find Mipha's timid smile, alleviating the thought before she spoke up with amusement, "At least with Revali and myself, the three of us, alone, have all the bases covered."

"Pah!" Revali complained, "I would rather cover a distance greater than the entirety of Hyrule than _him_."

Mipha gave Link a knowing smirk, earning him a wary sensation as she retorted, "Even if you've won from him a debt?"

Link's eyes constricted in terror as he watched Mipha's mischievous smirk, all while Revali's angered look slowly began to melt into one of intrigue, his lips curling rather evilly as he nodded, "Yes… I suppose, however unwitting, of course, my saving his life has incurred something of a life debt."

"A _debt_," Link challenged, "Nothing more."

Revali's eyes turned toward him, "Whatever the case- I hadn't the thought. Perhaps I _should_ view the remainder of this journey with interest; after all, a time must come where this man follows a demand of mine, much as how he follows the orders of his King."

The Rito inexplicably began to laugh, albeit with something of a sinister chuckle, as he thought of how best to gauge such a debt, nodding to himself as he silently mulled over the situation, allowing Link the option to complain to Mipha.

"What was _that_ for?"

She grinned, "I honestly supposed he would find it beneath himself to expect a debt paid to a Hylian."

"Well obviously not," Link frowned, eyeing the Rito from over his shoulder, "He's probably gonna have be bite worms out from the ground or whatever his cucco brethren do."

Mipha stuck a teasing tongue out at him, "Besides, he _did_ save your life. I'm indebted to him in my own way."

His lips turned in expectation, Link muttered in reply, "Well I hope you're down there chewing worms with me, even if he can't know why you're partaking."

"How undignified of a Princess," Mipha giggled, earning a glance full of ire from Link.

"Not fair," he noted distastefully.

She giggled at his droll, professional demeanor, knowing that Revali's presence was the only thing keeping him in such a state. With Revali piddling with the seemingly voluminous ideas racing through his head, utterly distracted as such, Mipha felt a slight comfort in leaning against Link much how Urbosa had pulled Zelda into her, although remaining careful not to touch Link with any parts of her skin where the gel had yet to dissolve along her scales. Such a handicap left her slightly dour, but Link's subtle acceptance, amidst Revali's presence, left her contented still.

The slightly sombering mood came to a climactic end as a roar came from the stable as the remaining Champions approached, the three of them alertly turning to find Daruk clutching the massive cooking pot from atop the fire, its scaling hot surface not fazing him in the slightest, while to Hylians did their best to assert their own claim over the cauldron, despite being unable to handle it themselves.

Link groaned a sour sigh as he stepped toward the dramatic scene, Daruk shouting, "The Princess has need of it!"

"Sir!" "Goron!" shouted the two gradually nervous Hylians shouted in reply, one of them pressing on, "Just-!"

Urbosa crept up to Daruk's side, joining the fray, though noticeably avoiding of the cauldron herself, having ostensibly put Zelda down somewhere. The confrontation heated up with a rather impotent air, the whole affair merely rising to little more than a shouting match, though before Link could intervene, Zelda appeared wearily from behind Daruk, throwing her arms up to bring pause to the disorder.

"Daruk," she murmured with tire, "I have need of _food_, not a pot."

One of the Hylian men threw a dismissive hand through the air, "I was just about to say-! You can't steal that!"

"Steal?" Daruk wondered aloud, turning his head to glance into the mighty cauldron, a nervous laugh escaping him as he swung the large pot back to its position atop the flame, "Heh heh… Sorry."

The Hylian took a deep breath, slapping his hand atop his forehead, "I swear, you had me at a start. I know the heat drives people mad sometimes, but a Goron?"

Daruk chuckled, "S-Sorry again."

"No worries, just so long as you're not interested in stealing our accouchements," the apparent stable hand groaned, "We've stew being made around the other end of the tent if you'd like some."

"Oh, absolutely! We'll just, eh-" Daruk came to a sudden pause, noticing Urbosa's piercing stare.

The two Hylian men slowly made their way back into the tent, allowing Urbosa the privacy to wonder aloud with disdain, "You nearly had me come to your aid…for an empty pot?"

"H- Hey now, I'm hungry!" Daruk explained nervously, "Hunger can drive even Gorons upset!"

Before Urbosa could further retort, Daruk impatiently rounded the tent while Link, Mipha, and Revali arrived amidst Urbosa's dismissive shake of her head, dropping her face into her hand.

"At least we didn't miss anything," Link teased.

Urbosa stared at him, her own hunger bringing a starved-serious look upon her face, causing a tremor to trail down Link's spine.

"Come on now," Zelda sighed, finding a chopped up log stump to sit down upon, dropping her head with exhaustion, "Let's just eat and head to bed."

Link pointed toward the adjacent seat before taking charge, "Alright, you all sit down and Revali and I will get us all-"

"Me and you?" Revali suddenly questioned, his inability to simply accept the command leaving Link perturbed.

"Yes. Unless that debt thing prevents you from adhering to common courtesy."

Revali gave a challenging smile, "Of course not. I'm simply savoring the opportunity of enjoying a meal not prepared by you for once."

"Yeah, as if your spotless bowls leave any doubt that you love what I cook," Link retorted.

A disgusted exclamation left Revali, "Pshaw! I'm merely ensuring I'm sustaining my body! I would _never_ enjoy the food of the earth."

"Because all you Rito eat are clouds, right?"

"You don't even know how clouds taste!"

Link threw his arms up, "Why would I _ever_ want to know that?!"

The two's argument came to an abrupt halt as Daruk reappeared, his hands grasping a wooden plank whereupon ten bowls of stew were places, enough for a few cups of seconds, much to Daruk's mindset when it came to meals.

"Did I miss something?" he wondered sincerely, noticing Link and Revali's heated postures, though with the problem resolved, Revali jolted away to find a seat of his own, leaving Link to follow along for a seat of his own.

Daruk shrugged indifferently before putting on a proud smile as he brought a bowl to Zelda, "There you go. I only hope it offers you joy."

At such reverence toward their meal, Zelda couldn't help but smile, nodding up toward him, "Thank you, Daruk. I'm sure it will."

The Goron grinned even brighter, turning to hand out the remaining bowls before lowering the plank onto the top of the cauldron to, presumably, keep the remaining bowls warm. With a boom, he sat down himself with a massive sigh of relief, turning his head to examine the Company before him, nodding proudly.

"This is nice," he chuckled happily before digging into his stew.

"It is," Zelda confirmed behind tired eyes.

Daruk cleared his throat, "I must admit, this is the first time I've ever been around non-Gorons for such a long time. I've had conversations and stuff, but there's something about- I don't know, time? Like with Link, here; I didn't simply make him my Sworn Brother on a whim. With enough time, you truly come to know people, -you know?"

"Indeed," Urbosa spoke up, blowing across the brim of her bowl.

"I hadn't any idea that you Zora would, you know- die- I mean, I did, but- I suppose I just never thought about it," Daruk admitted, rather embarrassed by his naivety.

Mipha smiled, "It's not big deal, I assure you."

"But-" Daruk groaned, "Your people were so nice to me- to all of us. I truly admired how well you all treated us as guests. I suppose I just, you know, feel a bit guilty. I mean, my home is no place for me to be a good host; I can't show off how beautiful _I_ find my home to be."

Link shrugged, "Maybe you can. We won't know until we speak to Doctor Robbie, and even then, even he doesn't know everything."

"And even then," Mipha spoke up, offering an understanding smile, "You've been enough of a good friend and host since I've known you. Remember, this is my first time beyond Zorana's waters. Perhaps you can't show us Goron City- but you've shown me a great deal about Hyrule as a whole."

"Ah, well," Daruk couldn't hold back a weak smile.

Zelda giggled, "You've really taken that 'most helpful pebble' to heart, huh?"

"Pebble padd-" "Pebble Paddler," Link and Daruk both replied, the two sharing an embarrassed glance at one another before nervously returning to their stews.

Urbosa's eyes watched them from behind the rim of her bowl, suddenly spouting, "Oh, come on!"

Mipha and Zelda turned to her with curiosity, the Brothers' stares noticeably absent from Urbosa's vision as she immediately surrendered with a frown, taking a bite of stew, "Never mind…"

Link kept his eyes intensely averted, knowing what Urbosa was alluding to with her outburst, eternally grateful that she hadn't opened up that particular line of-

"So, Gorons," Urbosa spoke up once again, "They have interpersonal relationships, right?"

Link knew the trap that Daruk hadn't any reason to anticipate himself. The helpful pebble paddler merely returned to Urbosa with renewed pride at being asked about his people, much to Link's chagrin.

"Of course! Besides being Sworn Brothers, the bond between fathers and sons- that is, between those borne from rock that elders imbue with the breath of life, is rather strong as well!"

Relief running through his body, Link kept his eyes shut, knowing that Urbosa's entire game was to bother him without explicitly having anything spoken aloud. So long as he, himself, refused to entertain her line of questions, nothing would come to the fore-

"I asked a similar question the other night, actually!" Daruk spoke up with interest, "We Gorons procreate in that way, but the other people of-"

Zelda nearly spat out the stew in her mouth as she keeled over, coughing up a storm while Mipha slowly averted her eyes.

"What?!" Daruk asked, "Even Zelda, now? I haven't a clue how- Shouldn't such things as bringing forth life be among the most proud events to discuss?"

Urbosa smiled like a obliviously mischievous child, rocking back and forth upon her seat with reserved elation, "I don't know, shouldn't it?"

Link kept to himself. He knew her game. She wouldn't-

"Link?" she asked.

His eyes drew toward her with a savage look, only further brightening the smirk on her face. He took a breath, only thankful that Zelda suddenly interrupted the discussion.

"I- It-" she stammered, "It's a bit more, uh, complicated than that."

Daruk groaned in distress at not having his curiosity waned, "But I don't understand! I mean, none of your peoples go and mold clay that becomes your child, right?"

Urbosa snickered, "I mean, depending on what someone's into, I suppose it could."

Zelda immediately dropped her head with shame, leaving Daruk even more ravenous in his inquiry, "_Into_? What would that person climb into for Hylians to mold clay into children?!"

Finding nothing but wayward glances from the lot of the group, save for Urbosa, Daruk suddenly turned to Revali, "Well? What about the Rito?"

Revali's stare was stagnant in his annoyance, his mind incensed that such topics were, once again, being discussed. As if to end the line of questioning, right this moment, his objections from the night before obviously not having worked, Revali stared into his stew for another bite before speaking up in a coldly biting tone.

"The females lay eggs. The males fertilize them. That's all."

Daruk snapped a finger, "Aha! See? Some answers! Now, you said eggs, but Link often adds eggs to our meals and-!"

"I answered your question!" Revali shouted, "You can't compare the lowly, fettered eggs of cuccos to the might race of the Rito who conquer the skies! Now, if you'd kindly _excuse_ _me_, I'd much rather do what I can to enjoy this meal rather than hear you prattle on about such depravities as two beings bringing another into this world when it had nothing at all to speak about it!"

Whatever glee Urbosa had derived from the scene quickly vanished as the mood turned dour. Revali, in a huff, rose to his feet, shaking away a scowl before turning to leave, taking a few steps toward the other end of the tent when Urbosa quickly shouted, "Revali!"

He continued.

"Wait!" she asked.

Revali's pace came to a halt as he gave a visibly deep sigh before spinning his head over his shoulder to glance toward the group.

"What?!"

Daruk's lips had turned at the taste of guilt in his mouth, a gentle voice leaving him as he spoke, "Sorry."

"Sorry? For spouting off incessantly toward an unsavory topic?!"

The Goron's face twitched, not daring to pry into that hole in Revali's armor that they had all seen, but instead offering up a sincere, "Yes. I'm sorry. It will not happen again."

Revali scrutinized the lot of Champions, including Zelda, for what seemed like fifteen minutes before slowly huffing his way back to his seat, muttering quietly to himself as he did so before continuing his meal, the sour mood now compelling everyone to remain quiet besides the echoing bites of slurping ejected into the air.

"However it came about," Revali suddenly complained aloud, "My parents couldn't be bothered with me. Such things as having children- such a worthless endeavor if you ask me."

Link frowned, hidden by his downturned head, at the similarity that appeared to bridge the two of their lives, at least in how they had both come to be. Despite their differences, perhaps they both were mere children of convenience, or for Revali, inconsequence. Regardless of the reasons why, Link suddenly realized, neither one of them might have been wanted beyond utilitarian means.

Revali dove back into his stew, muted to whatever reactions the others had beyond their silence. The meal remained rather jilted for a while, conversation not advancing beyond general bouts of pleasantries when seconds were passed out or for salt. As the mood remained beneath the weather, so to speak, Daruk's attention had begun to lock on to the cauldron atop the fire, watching the steaming jets of air floating into the sky like breaths of life from the bowls of soup.

"Somebody speak," Revali suddenly challenged with a face screwed up with frustration, "I don't need your solidarity."

Daruk's attention piqued.

"Well," he spoke up, "I know we said not to talk about the journey and all, but- Heat rises."

Zelda nodded, "Technically, all air is hot, even cold air, it's just that hotter air will evaporate and-"

"I understand, but-" Daruk muttered, stroking his beard, "I think I have an idea. I was watching the steam rising, and the cauldron reminded me of the reservoir back at Zora's Domain, and-"

His brow curled, "Back before we Gorons understood Vah Rudania's purpose, we attempted to mitigate the damages to our villages through our own means. The spewing rocks weren't much trouble, but the lava flows were horrendous; many Gorons would die simply getting enough of it on them to burn them to their core."

"To combat such things- We actually have something like reservoirs dug into the mountain, only for lava instead of water. There's a vast network of tunnels and vents put deep into the mountain, winding every which way."

Zelda nodded, "Interesting. Though, I'm not sure-"

"But here's the thing," Daruk noted, "They're built downward- to collect lava flows, right? So might those tunnels be cooler than the air surrounding the mountain itself?"

Link's head thoughtfully fell to the side while Mipha's eyes narrowed inquisitively, watching Zelda as she considered the idea, "I mean- It certainly couldn't be any hotter, could it?"

"I thought they were built to be pools of magma," Urbosa questioned.

Daruk nodded, "Well, that was the intention, but ever since, we've never had lava flows; at least, not flows that threaten our villages. Vah Rudania, for all intents and purposes, started getting rather stingier about the eruptions directed toward our villages."

"As if it knew..?" Zelda inquired, "Knew to protect your people?"

Daruk shrugged, "I wouldn't go _that_ far. It _is_ a machine, after all. Still, that's an interesting idea. In any case, the vents sprout within the volcano's crater as well, so we could literally hide out within the mountain until Vah Rudania appears nearby and then quickly swoop back in to safety."

Zelda turned toward Mipha for her opinion, to which Mipha nodded in reply, "As you said, you couldn't be any hotter."

"Unless it's simply trapping the heat and it has metamorphosed into an oven," Revali surprisingly added, albeit pithily.

Poking at her chin, Zelda nodded, "That's another possibility. It wouldn't hurt to at least dip our toes in, as it were. If it is a viable strategy, it _would_ solve the problem of Vah Rudania skittering around the mountain every which way."

"They've been abandoned for centuries, so I'm not entirely certain of their condition, but if it works," Daruk spoke up with breathless anticipation, his rising excitement preventing him from continuing.

He grinned as Link batted his arm once again, the Hylian returning to his stew with muted praise, "Not bad, pebble paddler."

Daruk allowed a proud chuckle to leave him, hoping to have offered this cluster of a Company something to better even their odds of success.


	40. Being Everything to Another

Night trailed along. Flickering embers escaped the campfire, skittering up toward the sky for only brief moments while the pleasantly charred scent of smoke carried the Champions through weakening conversation as exhaustion worked its way through the ranks. Having nearly fallen forward during a bout of sleepiness, Urbosa wrapped Zelda up into her arms before lovingly carrying her to a room, leaving a blithering chatter behind until Mipha retired as well, leaving the three men alone around the flickering pillars of flame light.

Link sighed nostalgically, scooting himself free from his stump to better reach the fire, stoking it alive to keep it attended for any weary traveler that might follow them in the night. His face softened at he watched the flames leap into the air, thinking off his time amongst the Kingdom's patrols, the sight of such a warm, powerfully licking fire often filling him with contentedness after days' long expeditions.

"Our Hylian stables pride themselves on welcoming all, at all times," Link explained quietly, patting one of the crumbling logs until it scattered to ashes, "Their more serious owners take great measures to keep their flames alight at all times."

Daruk smiled warmly, "Quite nice. Keep that up for so many years, think of just how many people have shared in those campfires."

"That's the thing," Link grinned, "The fire itself is constantly evaporating into the air. Even the logs with disintegrate. There's nothing about this fire that made it up from, say, the night before. Yet it remains."

He chuckled, "Captain Ruzoll will often forget that little anecdote and recite it, ad nauseum, if you travel with him long enough."

Daruk nodded with bright eyes, "To be sure, it is still a nice story to be told. If this world is like that fire- We'll all be gone soon enough. Yet, assuming we're successful, there just might be others to take our place."

His eyes echoing those flames in reflection, Link frowned, turning toward Daruk, "You can be honest. Zelda and the others are gone."

He chewed the thought over in his head for a moment, "You think this journey is worth anything?"

"_Anything_ like-" Daruk began uncertainly, "You mean beyond personal stuff?"

"Do you think we're saving Hyrule?" Link clarified with a disheartened tone.

Daruk's body rumbled as he hummed to himself in thought, stroking his chin, "I mean, at the very least, we're better understanding the Divine Beasts. or so we believe. If the ancient legends are to be trusted, such knowledge saved Hyrule once."

"Right, but-" Link paused.

His mind caught sight of Mipha, struggling to even move in her attempt to survive the deadly conditions of Death Mountain. As much as he had warily bought into Zelda's ideas- how much of that meant little compared to her life?

He carefully chose his words, hoping to quell his worries, "This thing is only going to get more dangerous. How far are we willing to go risk our friends' safety for something we're so uncertain of?"

Cocking his head to the side, Daruk allowed a wry smile to stretch across his face, "Well, I understand your quandary, but-"

He sat up straight, running his hands along his legs before coming to rest atop his knees, "You're my friend. My _sworn_ _brother_. That distinction never came lightly, and even now, I consider myself honored to hold such a distinction with one who does so much with so little- so to speak."

Link eyed him unenthusiastically.

"If my life were in danger," Daruk spoke up seriously, "Would you be willing to give my life away for even the faintest chance to save Hyrule as a whole?"

Unsure, Link returned with a pithy glance, "Would _you_?"

"Give _you_ up?" Daruk suddenly laughed, slapping his knee humorously, "I cannot answer such things. Perhaps I could never hope to answer that until that moment were to arise. I can say that, were you to let _me_ live, sacrificing Hyrule for such a thing, I would be more furious than thankful, but-"

He shrugged, smirking weakly, "It's always easier to sacrifice your own self. Giving up another is-"

Link lowered his head reverently as Daruk sighed, chuckling as he raised a hand toward Revali, "I often am truly jealous of you, friend."

The Rito's face scrunched unhappily, his arms crossing as he fought back, "I'm _not_ your friend."

Daruk's eyes lit up, hiding a grin from Revali as he allowed the air to stiffen, noticing a weakening curiosity begin to boil within Revali as he sat there anxiously, the Rito's voice finally peckering out near faintly.

"…but I _am_ curious of your jealousy toward me," Revali forced out, albeit as he remained stoic as always.

Chuckling, Daruk smiled, "There certainly is merit to the life you lead. Focusing solely on yourself. Were you able to save the whole of your people, given the sacrifice of another, I wouldn't think you'd have much the same quandary as we might."

"Certainly," Revali confirmed, some discomfort in his voice, "I'll have you know, I am certainly not _entirely_ heartless. While I strive to incite reason when emotions are so heavily touted, I'm not above seeking conclusions that accomplish much without sacrificing an equal exchange."

Daruk shrugged, turning his attention back to Link, "See? Perhaps you simply need to look at these things as Revali does. Keep it professional."

Mutely, Link's mind wandered back to his relationship with Mipha, which was certainly, now, far beyond _professional_.

Rising to his feet, Daruk bellowed out a mighty yawn as he stretched out his back, reaching toward the stars above, "BWAAAAH! Well, I ought to retire before my sediment grows unruly. I hate to be a fright in the morning!"

He chuckled to himself amusedly, turning toward Link with a smile, "If it helps relieve your worries, should it come to such a thing, I have no problem offering up my life, should you will it. I trust you."

Link watched him with concern, "None of this was to-"

A quick, hearty pat to his back silenced him as Daruk laughed, "Bwah ha! I know, I know. Still, as your sworn brother, I hope you understand what weight is carried by such a distinction."

"I had to help drag your ass back to Goron City after you passed out during that rock meat eating challenge years ago; trust me, I know the weight."

"HA HA!" Daruk boisterously surrendered a massive laugh that sent the nearby trees aflutter with escaping birds, "You're too much, my friend. In any case, do no remain awake for too long! Watch those sediments yourselves!"

Link gave him a droll nod as he raised his hand in feigned thanks, earning him a giddy chuckle as Daruk made his way toward the stable tents. The knight returned to the flames licking at the sky, poking and prodding at the collection of ash beneath it, the presence of only himself and Revali forcing him to focus on such menial things until the Rito man suddenly sputtered.

"What a fool," Revali spoke up quietly in disgust, "What kind of imbecilic welcomes their own death at the hands of another?"

Immediately prepared to reply with some forceful retort, the dour mood left Link more resistant to him impulses. He remained silent as he toyed with the flames, uncertain as to how rhetorical Revali's words had been in the first place, though, regardless, Link mustered a reply of his own.

"When you loose those arrows of yours," Link wondered aloud, peering over the cauldron above the campfire to glance Revali's way, "You trust them to hit their mark, correct? That is a trust I do not know, yet would like to. Perhaps the same will one day be said about you and trust in friends."

Revali eyed him critically, even as Link continued with a shrug, "For me, the ease of death would be far preferable to the loss of somebody close to me."

Link's eyes fell, "…even if they might be forced to endure what I, myself, cannot."

He muttered breathlessly, in a near whisper, "They're stronger than I would ever be."

Revali's eyes spun curiously at Link's nearly too-personal words, though he decided not to pry, simply taking the man's flash of weakness as something of a strength, given his audience. The Rito's sharp eyes followed Link as he stood up himself, wiping free the debris from the back of his tunic before striding along the perimeter of the fire on his way to the stable.

"Don't tarry," Link muttered as he passed Revali, "The temperature often dips despite the humidity. It's not good for Rito feathers."

Revali gave him a challenging stare, though Link failed to notice as he carried on without a reply, leaving the Rito alone amidst the campfire, Revali's attention solemnly turning to the sight of bountiful flames as he crossed his arms, further pondering the night's events, in particular the quiet moment of solace not a moment earlier.

* * *

Link strode into the massive tent of the stable, careful with his movements as he threw his shoulder forward to allow the strap of his Sword to roll down his arm and into his waiting hand, sighing mutely to himself as he hug his head in weariness, rather prepared for the day to come to an end. His gait was more of a stumble as he shook his head to clear his mind, entering steadily into the ring of ramshackle, private rooms the stable had erected for the more reserved guests, even if they weren't much more than screens put up with flimsy doorways.

Without much of a thought, Link entered unto the line of doorways, thinking only of the one Zelda had meant for him, though his eyes went sharp at the sight of something rather odd- a crack in one of the doors, only the slightest occurrence out of sorts, yet still the type of incongruity a knight of his caliber would be expected to point out. He slowly approached the curious sight, only to notice even further the swirl of crimson that fit within the cracked doorway, the tell-tale sight of a peeking Mipha.

Link peered over his shoulder as if to scope out what she might have been peeking out, before returning to her, closing the gap enough that the door crept open ever so slightly.

"You okay?" he asked, more in confusion than questioning.

Mipha's sole eye trailed toward the ground, "I, uh- I was waiting for you- N- Not for any particular reason! just-!"

She took in a sharp breath to calm herself, shaking her head, "Daruk came through and left me affright. I thought he might have noticed me and asked questions."

Her inability to retain eye-contact led Link to assume, "Is something the matter?"

"I-" Mipha muttered shamefully, bowing her head behind the crack in the door, "Yes…"

Link noticed the darkened space behind her, only the faintest glimmer of lanternlight accompanying what of her frame he could make out. Gradually enough, given her inability to present herself normally, Link came to realize what might have happened.

"That, uh-" she battled to explain, "Gekari gel will lose its potency over time, so- I figured I would use the gel Revali bought in the desert and-"

Her voice wavered with shame.

"I don't think it was gekari gel…" she concluded with a whimper, the visible section of her head suddenly jolting as she further complained, "Now it's just a mess of gunk that's stuck in my scales and it's irritating and just sitting there making me uncomfortable and-!"

Link raised his hands to calm her, "Shh, shh… What, would you like me to fetch some water? We could try that soap Urbosa mentioned, see if it works on Zora."

"No, I- I'm afraid water might make it worse," Mipha muttered worriedly, nearly on the verge of tears, "I've just been picking it off, but-"

"But-" Link finished easily, "You can't reach your back."

"I can't reach my back!" Mipha explained in complaint.

Link stifled down a chuckle as he made his way toward the door, shaking his head, "Don't worry, I'll take care of it. Honestly though, I've never seen you like this. You took a pelting from a far-off lynel, but _this_ is what brings you to tears?"

Mipha's lips pursed in droll explanation, "Maybe if that lynel had scratched marks into my skin that burned like fire I might have."

Now readily allowing a soft laugh to escape, Link nodded in acknowledgement, "I suppose you do have a point."

Slowly, almost carefully, retreating back into the room, leaving the door slightly ajar for Link to slip his hand through to allow him entry, Mipha disappeared deeper into the dark room, Link warily peeking up and down the hallway before slipping in backward, his eyes scanning the interior of the stable until he shut the door behind him with a sigh, dropping his head in relief.

"The last thing we need is-" he spun away, his breath leaving him for a moment as he found Mipha standing a few paces away, the scales upon her body aglow with soft lanternlight, dancing across those silky boundaries of alabaster upon rouge.

Apparently noticing his wandering gaze, Mipha's eyes turned away in embarrassment, instinctively bringing her hands up to her chest as she spoke up in murmurs, forcing Link's eyes back up to her face, "I, uh-"

"Right," Link nodded quickly, swallowing the obtrusive pocket of air in his throat, "Sorry."

Mipha smiled, "I'm not upset, just- My scales…"

"Understood," Link reaffirmed, "Let's just get you better."

She nodded. Turning around with a slowness that Link couldn't help but imagine was intentional, Mipha's sleek back shone amidst the dancing lick of flame, like a brush stroke of the most exquisite calligraphy before his eyes, she carefully sat atop the edge of the rather improperly welcoming bed, given how cheaply done the room itself had been made, catching Link's eyes from over her shoulder.

Clearing his throat, Link sat his Sword down beside the doorway before taking the trembling steps toward her, watching listlessly as she reached up to catch her dorsal fin with the back of her hand, sliding it along to tuck it behind her shoulder to allow him access to the whole of her back, Link only now realizing that, besides the necklace around her, this was the first time he had ever seen her absent some form of ornate wrapping or other clothing. Surely, he figured, nudity wasn't much of anything to the Zora, but his own culturally-tinged eyes couldn't help but place some significance to such a sight, so beauteous as it was.

He carefully sat behind her atop the bed, one foot on the floor to allow him easy access, his voice escaping rather timidly as he asked, "So, uh-"

"It should come off easy enough," Mipha's equally-hollow voice noted, "It doesn't hurt."

Link's sudden gasp of a chuckle broke the tension somewhat, "I wouldn't expect it to. Nothing fazes you."

He couldn't catch her grin, though as he prepared to assist her with this process, raising his hands toward her back, he paused, curling his lips inward with uncertainty. She had asked for his help, yet-

Carefully, with a near-crippling slowness, Link placed his hands atop her back, catching the sharp breath from past her lips as he did so. Those scales press lightly against his palms, so smooth, patterned endlessly in pleasant loops and curvatures, felt infinitely cool beneath his seemingly infinitely warm skin. In the humid air, made even more sweltering by such intimacy, her skin felt far more satisfying than it might have otherwise.

"You-" Mipha spoke up in a choking voice before clearing her throat with a dainty cough, "You might have to find the splotches yourself…"

Link's eyes had already glazed over with unstable grasps upon reality, leaving him much in agreement, "Alright…"

He took a deep breath, praying it to be silent, but knew better- Mipha almost certainly heard, and even if she hadn't, had obviously already noticed his nerves simply through his touch. A tingle ran down his neck as Link slid his hands down her back, sending Mipha's body trembling for a brief moment as she acclimated to the sensation, his eyes losing focus as they merely rested upon some unknown space as his body focused so intently upon that smoothness running along his palms.

Somewhere within that infinitely perfect set of curvaceous spots of scales, he caught something foreign, causing his eyes to reorient themselves; as lost as he was becoming in her scales, he quickly recalled his task, taking in a breath before zeroing in on that section of imperfection, carefully working free the viscous plop of ooze that had solidified around a collection of scales.

"Thanks," came Mipha's voice, nearly causing Link to jump in surprise as their silence had so ingrained itself upon his mind.

He shook his head, rubbing free what he could of the substance, "It's nothing. Better me than Daruk trying to shove those massive boulders he calls fingers into these crevices."

Mipha shivered with softened giggles.

"Zelda might be a bit more meticulous though. I've never been known to be all that thorough when it comes to this sort of thing," Link admitted, still diligent in his work.

With the surface cleared, Link carefully pressed his thumb between her scales, running its sunken surface along to clear those spaces as best he could, "This isn't nearly as irritating as keeping a barracks made up, though."

Mipha's voice appeared nearly crystalline, as if able to shatter, "…what makes this so different?"

His lips curling into a grin, Link explained, "A barracks is never beautiful."

Link's eyes rose to find Mipha's head falling forward in a gracious dip to conceal her smile, returning to his work as he muttered further, "Messiness doesn't bother a barracks either."

"It might bother your captains," Mipha spoke up slyly.

Shrugging, Link replied, "I don't love my captains, though."

Mipha shut her eyes, leaving her smile as the only feature of note upon her face as she buried her chin against her chest, enjoying the sensations offered her by Link's warm hands running along her back, as well as the feeling of his fingers so lovingly careful in their examination of her scales.

Link finished what he could before running his hands further along her back, having grown more emboldened in his approach, even if the two had returned to silence. Wherever he found splotches of inconsistency, he dutifully cleared them as best he could, working his fingers along the borders of her scales as best he could. Not one was left out of place. Such a pristine being was this woman, he thought, certainly by design- she was capable of shedding impure scales, after all. Still, as pure as her body seemed, Link couldn't help but remain so intensely allured by the myriad curvatures upon such cool skin.

His hands run upward, noting the sizable difference between the scales at her back versus the ones trailing near her neck, before clearing his throat, "I, uh- Your necklace is in the way if there's any up here."

He caught sight of Mipha's hand slowly raising toward her chest, lingering atop the ornate decoration around her neck. Her fingers trailed along the various trails of jewels roaming down her body, deepening in thought as Link silently remained where he was, his hands still upon her.

Slowly, without reply, he slid his hands even further along her body, fingers slithering atop the jeweled band that wrapped around her neck. Mipha's eyes suddenly appeared over her shoulder as she turn her head around to watch him, less slowly than deliberately. Their eyes locked, the two wholly enchanted by the orange glow that twinged in one another's eyes. Mipha's breath caught in her throat as Link delicately undid the band of her necklace, the rough surface of rough-cut ornaments skidding along her chest and into her waiting hand.

Their vision remained entangled. Beyond a cursory search along his fingertips, Link's hands failed to locate anything out of place atop her tender skin. Instead, they slid apart, turning until they were atop her arms just beneath her shoulders, taking her into a lovingly brusque clutch with her breaths ever quickening. Before her mind could register Link's movement, he had already buried his face into the small of her neck, taking a small kiss from atop her most delicate scales, causing a shiver to pass through her like a tremor.

Her deepening breath echoed, considering the loss of her necklace, "I must belong to you now."

Link's eyes raised his own breath beginning to grow warmer, "What if I wished to belong to _you_?"

Whether in an effort to be literal or simply lascivious, Mipha's eyes trailed down toward Link's chest. To belong to Link, they had discovered, meant she was without her necklace- without nation, without titles, without anything barring everything about her, body, heart, and soul from this man that she loved.

Spinning around to half-face him, Mipha gingerly raised her hands toward his chest, entwining her fingers within the buttons of his shirt, the warmth within causing her skin to crawl in expectation. Link's head fell, his eyes watching her flinty movement as his heart raced, unsure of where they were quite blindly leading themselves. Still, as her movements graduated from curious prodding to increasingly ravenous, Link found little room to refuse her advance, even helping as Mipha reached down to collect the hem of his tunic within her hands, pushing it up and over Link's head.

Her eyes fell toward his bare chest with wonderment, imagining lying upon such a body that, contrary to her own, offered infinite heat from which her very soul could find such invigoration. Mipha's brow fell in confusion, the sweltering humidity, along with such heated activity between the two of them, leaving Link's skin with a rather sheen as the lanternlight glistened amongst his sweat.

"You're wet," Mipha spoke with only a hint of curiosity, enough for Link to catch that she wasn't simply stating such things.

He nodded, tuning into his own chest with his attention, "Yeah. It's, uh- I suppose speaking of Zora righting response; it's one of ours. When we get too- hot- our bodies sweat to cool us off."

"Huh," Mipha mumbled absent-mindedly, pressing her hand gently against his skin, only to quickly pull it away from the sensation of expecting incineration, giggling mutely before slowly returning to him, "Sorry. I wasn't expecting you to be _that_ hot."

Link felt a pit summoning itself into the pit of his stomach as Mipha wondered with all the sincerity of somebody new to such things, "How did you get like this?"

"I, uh-" Link managed, but only briefly, his shivering nerves forcing his speech into resuscitation, "I mean-"

Mipha's lips crept mischievously upward, "Was it me? Urbosa said you men-"

"Okay, as somebody who has _heard_ some of Urbosa's advice, you'd be wise to disregard it," groaned Link with incredulity.

Mipha smirked, "So it's _not_ me, then?"

Link couldn't help but feel as though he'd just been trapped to say something rather embarrassing. His eyes averted, he muttered quietly.

"I mean- When you look the way you do…"

Mipha nodded slowly as she leaned in closer, ever so gently, "Uh huh."

"And I don't- Ahh."

A jolting whimper managed to escape Link's attempts toward composure as Mipha's lips found his chest, sampling what she could of her lover's taste. Link's face went red in reply to both his embarrassing reaction as well as Mipha's suddenly forward behavior. His hands found the bed sheets to clutch onto as a sudden tension dashed throughout his body as Mipha's lips continued along the center of his chest, her hands reaching for his sides to bring him closer, however subtly, until she found herself wanting, grinning with satisfaction as she bowed her head, nuzzling the crown of her forehead against his chest, newly churning with heat as Link's body rose to the occasion.

His breaths shook as Mipha's hand slid atop his body, curling atop his shoulder before finding the back of his neck, pulling him into her kisses as her lips trailed toward his chin before receding only to the tender skin at his own neck.

"I want every part of you," Mipha panted, battling in between breaths, "To be a part of me."

Taking that as her command, Link dutifully relinquished whatever inhibitions he might have had. For his many years fighting the urges that came from his body's need to connect to another, such barriers crumbled beneath Mipha's skillful allure. He sent his hands up to her cheeks, burning her face with his touch as he directed her lips to his own, the flurry of whetted, scorching manipulation making Mipha's body weak. Whether or not it had been calculated, Link subtly took the chance now that their lips, their tongues, were tied, unlocking his hands to allow them to find Mipha's tender skin, rolling his fingers atop her stomach, hoping to well up whatever pleasure he could for her, knowing such things must have been far different from her perspective.

Unable to tear away the nagging urge at the back of his mind, his hands inevitably found their way to the ridges at her chest, a subtle whine escaping into his mouth as Mipha jolted forward from the heat above her heart. She only battled his tongue even more, fighting to quench whatever sounds might escape further before they arose, her tongue roiling atop of Link's as she savored every taste of him she could find, even taking a moment to take quick, subtle notice of the pressure within his lungs- his outside had been wet with sweat, after all. What if the same had happened on the inside?

Link pushed his way atop of her, brushing his hands along her sides in a tender embrace, careful not to bruise her gill slits, before breaking away from their kisses, choosing to watch her with strained, exhausted eyes as he regained his breath. There she lay beneath him, a longing pursing of her lips ornamenting the rest of her shimmering body.

"There's no, uh-" Link struggled beneath wavering breaths, "I mean-"

Seeming to catch what he was offering, Mipha smiled lightly, "Link…"

She gradually reached up to clutch either side of his head, running her fingers through his soft hair to feel the prickly sensations along her fingers, her eyes weakly locked in reply to his stare.

"You're already as much as a Zora man could be to me, and far, far more," she smiled, "All I want to be for you is as much as a Hylian woman could be- however that happens."

Link felt a sweltering crimson come across his face, choosing to lower himself against Mipha's chest, burying his face between those tender ridges rather than allow himself the indignity of Mipha catching him in much more embarrassment. She merely giggled in reply, wrapping her arms around his head to hold him as close as she could against herself, feeling his heat slipping into her body, coursing throughout her very essence, a brilliance catching fire within her soul.

"I love you," came Link's voice from between her breasts, earning him an unseen smile from Mipha.

She released her arms, taking Link's shoulders and forcefully pushing him to the side, launching him over onto his back as she followed in a singular, spry motion, now rising above him on all fours, smirking lustrously as she examined his body with an emboldened critique. Before long, she reached up to gently brush the hair from Link's face before giving him another peck upon the lips, pulling away into a smile as their eyes met.

"I love you too."

Link was rather entranced by the view of Mipha's pearlescent eyes, crowded by three broad strands of fins nearly framing her face in a masterpiece of existence, or so he imagined.

"How, uh-" Link stammered, his body nearly aburst with their prolonged dance, though not without a clumsy escape of his attention off toward the lantern.

Mipha grinned, placing a single finger atop his lips to silence him.

"I'll figure something out," she assured, a lascivious cocking of her lips proving positive her intentions, "I was told you men aren't _too_ difficult to please."

Link decided to merely take her at her word, remaining lost in the moment, instead of trying to ascertain where she had heard such things. Of course, this was Mipha- a somewhat rival from his youth, and even until now.

He was bound and determined to prove that particular predilection wrong, if only to show her up, after showing her up, of course.

* * *

**_A/N: I've spent an inordinate amount of time pondering the question, "Should Link and Mipha be able to have sex?" xD It would retcon a massive plot point from 'Scales', however, and I think it works better from character perspectives if they're not able to. That physical barrier will always bar them, wholly, from one another- that's the sacrifice they make to be together- it's not the easy route at all._**

**_I don't expect their relationship to get as introspective as it was, briefly, in 'Scales', so you could check that out if you'd like some deeper discussion between the two on the topic (from beginning to end, I don't think 'Tale' is long enough for them to ponder the idea of children xD)._**

**_I hope you enjoyed!_**


	41. As You Wish

Mipha's eyes wore on lazily, scanning overtop the umber landscape that appeared vast among her proximity. Lying at her lover's side, head atop his arm, her attention had been upon his horse's movement for quite some time, having found sleep to be a rather fleeting condition at this point in time.

She had fallen asleep in his embrace, but soon enough had woken in an abashed state, though she dared not threaten the somber state of the man at her side. While wholly embarrassed, her body's adjustment to Link's heat-laced skin no longer allowing her such a hazy state of mind that had sent her against his body in the first place, she took such emotions in stride. She did certainly love the man, she knew, but such a state as this was terribly new to her, and entangled between cloth sheets and Hylian skin, her mind had yet found the proper state to understand such things.

Eventually, however, she had found peace within the same man who had left her so flustered, even as he has been sleeping. Her eyes had found his chest, raising so steadily, so slowly, in comparison to his waking state. It forced a serene smile from her, thinking of how calm her presence made him in sleep, despite how bedraggled she had left him beforehand, then her mind returned to bashful condemnation, so she returned to his chest, so effortlessly rising, falling, like the ebb and flow of the tides as he inhaled delicate breaths that strode along the air above them.

While solely able to breath through their gills beneath the waves, Mipha recalled their ability to both breath through their gill slits as well as though mouths- a recollection rather necessary. Since childhood, for perhaps the same reason handedness is predetermined, she had always found it far more natural to take her breaths through her gills during her every day life. Watching Link's wavering breaths, however…

Mipha's eyes crawled along his skin, her head ever so slightly curling upward until she could glance upon his face in profile. She smiled, wondering what he must be dreaming about in such a surrendering state within her presence; such things were rather unbecoming of a knight, he had once tacitly admitted.

Still, they were in love. He hadn't a reason to fear her benign prodding as he slept, though the idea still brought a grin to Mipha's lips.

Her eyes returned to his chest, watching carefully his rising chest, timing his breaths, giving herself a preliminary moment to judge her next course of action. Then, as she relinquished her breathing along her gills, pulling in the muscles of her stomach to do so, her lips broke apart in a fragile balance as her lungs remained in stasis. Her eyes narrowed as Link's chest flowed, sinking into itself as Mipha readied her own body, taking in an effervescent breath in time with Link, emulating his body movement with her own, unable to hold back her lips from curling into a smirk as she did so.

She giggled mutely before immediately finding pause, not wishing to wake him, not now that she was finding both fun and serenity within his tranquil demeanor. Mipha went on as still as possible, watching Link's chest as it pumped oxygen through his body, continuously timing her own breaths to his, the constant focus and mesmerizing movements bringing a sleepiness back to her.

A hand slithered atop his stomach, only gently caressing his skin, allowing the few, fine hair there to stroke along her scales in another dance that was foreign to the Zora. Almost timidly, a single finger pressed into his skin, finding Link's body to be so taut and brusque- bred for combat, indeed, her mind racing with chivalrous intentions as it wandered over another difference between this man and her Zora brethren. While they were bred for lithe, jolting, graceful actions, due mostly to their naturally sleek and soft construction, owed to their life beneath the water, Link 's body resisted her prodding with tensing musculature that brought an embarrassed look to Mipha's eyes as she thought of, once again, being entangled within that skin-strewn web of brawn beside her.

Her breath left her lips in shivers as her index finger wormed, interlaced, with the rungs of dips atop Link's chest where his muscles were far more pronounced, forcing a gulp from Mipha. Her eyes escaped her finger's motion to check his face, finding him still enchanted with sleep, though now she was merely appreciative that he wasn't awake to find her doing such things to him.

She felt a subtle twinge of experimentation in the intentions behind her movement, causing a wry smirk upon her in deepening thought over that consideration of their future together. So much would be this very same experimentation, she thought; these two discovering what the other found endearing, loving, pleasurable, even. Infinity crossed her mind for but a moment, thinking of growing old with this man, before her mind bolted from such a brazen thought, suddenly swiping her hand across Link's chest as she came to her senses, a grumbled groan suddenly heightening the temperature.

"Ah," Link murmured in a sleepy daze, turning his head to where Mipha lay, his warm breaths coursing around her face, "That hurt."

She bit her lips, "S-Sorry."

"No need," Link assured easily, turning his head back up toward the curtained roof that strewn above the room, "I never sleep on my back because it leaves my stomach vulnerable."

Mipha grinned at such a soldierly observation, "So it's _your_ fault."

Tilting his head to pantomime a shrug, Link managed, "I figure since you're far more capable than me in combat, it wouldn't hurt to leave you in protection of my vulnerable points."

He ran a hand along the subtle scratch marks left upon his chest, "Even if it means surrendering _some_ skin in the process."

"You make it sound like I meant to do that," Mipha wryly retorted.

Link's eyes flashed toward her in the madder red of dim lanternlight, "You stole my heart, figuratively, already. How am I to know you aren't digging for the real thing?"

She smirked wider, "Now I'm a monster."

"No," Link muttered in a warmly low voice, pulling his arm from beneath Mipha's head to her shoulders, pulling her toward the height of his torso, allowing him to embrace her, "You're far too beautiful to be a monster."

Half strewn atop this man's body, Mipha was happy to leave her head handing along the edge of his chest, if only so that only the flame across the room could catch her embarrassment. She shut her eyes, attempting to force away the flutteriness within her body, hoping the renewed silence would help in that endeavor, but to no avail.

Her eyes spun curiously, "Aren't you…embarrassed. too?"

"Deathly," Link admitted, "I've never been this close to a woman, so- I suppose I'm still rather afraid I'll do something improper."

Mipha felt his body shiver in realization, "But it's you. and only you. I don't mind embarrassment if that's the case."

Her lips curled at the sweet nothings crossing her ear. Mipha allowed her head to release its resistance, falling along Link's side as he shoved her arms underneath his body, leaving her posture astraddle.

"Then I won't mind," she confirmed quietly.

A jolt arose from within as Link's touch came upon the top of her head, his hand caressing her in tender caress. Her blood boiled with renewed vigor, surrounded as she was beneath that quilt, now sharing all the heat Link had to offer, their body's energies now dancing between them much as their arms were prone to do.

"I've never felt for anyone what I feel for you," Link suddenly offered with a whisper.

Mipha's skin crawled at the twinge of regret in his voice. Inquirously, she pulled her head to rest atop his chest, her eyes watching him curiously while his face remained beyond her vision.

"Don't go."

Her heart trembled. She knew what ached at his core.

"Link-"

His embrace tightened, "Just- Don't go. I've lost enough people that I love- I can't-"

A gentle, frosty sensation came to his cheek as Mipha comforted him, "Link. I love you. With every breath I take, I silently affirm that fact. When I saw you plummeting to your death, I- If I was so willing to sacrifice my home- my people- to save you…"

Her body slowly crept upward, her knees carefully coming up along his sides as she straddled his chest, her upper body cascading just above Link's face as she smiled down toward his trembling face, "My duty as Princess has always been to Hyrule, and although that doesn't mean I love you any less-"

She sighed, thinking of the proper words, "There will come a time when Hyrule needs saving. and as much as you enjoy deferring to my own talents- I know all to well."

"Hmm," she grinned, thinking of that muscular form that was know beneath her, much how it might if she were a Hylian woman, "But you- You won't ever need saving. because that's how good you are. how resilient."

She lowered her head, pressing the crown of her head against his forehead as their eyes met, "When I started this journey, I understood the risks. but I agreed. I agreed because Hyrule needs me- us. Perhaps more than it's ever needed anyone else."

"I'm afraid."

Mipha's smile faded in that instant of weakness that Link only allowed her to bear witness to.

He shook his head, turning it away to hide the tears welling up, forcing them toward the pillow beneath him, "I've spent my entire life shutting away everybody else simply to avoid that possibility of losing someone else. That's why I became the Knight that I did- but even if I failed, I made sure that nobody else would bring me what my mother's death tore through me."

Eyes shut, Link battled his will to continue, "I'm afraid of losing you."

Slowly, effortlessly, Mipha allowed her lithe body to contort downward to allow her arms to wrap around his head, pulling him closer against that space upon her chest, "You won't lose me. You seriously think that after all the times I've defeated you in duels, I'd fail to remind you, incessantly, for the rest of time?"

Despite the emotions welling up against his face, Link couldn't help but bite back a laugh at her childish bravado, shaking his head, "Shut up."

Hiding a giggle of her own, Mipha gave him a kiss, "I'll tell you what. I'm a Princess with a duty to this land- but I'm not stupid. If we go see this fellow and he hasn't any solid ideas-"

She paused for a moment, checking the gravitas of the situation, "Then I won't go."

Link's eyes turned just enough to peer up toward her, "Are you sure?"

Nodding gently, she smiled with a weakness that broke his attention.

He grumbled under his breath, "Well now I just feel selfish."

"Selfish is fine," Mipha concluded warmly, nuzzling her face against his neck, "I'm selfish, too."

He frowned, "If you turn that into a pun-…"

A mischievous smile grew at her lips, "I was simply going to say that I'm selfish too."

A stifled giggle caused her body to shake as she gave a quick nibble with her fangs atop Link's shoulder, "I may not want you to leave this bed, even in the morning. I've grown quite accustomed to your warmth; I don't see how I'll ever be able to return to the cold."

"How about this," Link offered plainly, "If ever you feel too cold- Just let me know. I'll do whatever I can."

"Mmm," Mipha mused with anticipatory zeal, "You mean it?"

Link nodded, "Always."

His hands ran down the small of her back, whirling to the outside of her hips before returning to her shoulders before repeating the motion, smiling satisfactorily as Mipha twitched to one side in a halting movement.

Smirking proudly, Link took a hand away, covering the pride smeared across his face as he held Mipha's hand to bring to his lips, kissing her gently before his voice rang out, "I feel guilty now."

Mipha rolled her eyes, "You have to pick one."

Ejecting a frustrated breath, Link frowned, leaving Mipha to conclude simply, "I've directed you to many a defeat at my hand. You may direct _me_ now."

Now sighing in some complacency, Link closed his eyes, "We'll see, then."

"As you wish," Mipha smiled, nary a trace of that regret Link had seen moments earlier.

Before much more interlude could occur, Link reached a hand around Mipha's head, stroking her steady dorsal fin before finding the opposite end of her, pulling her in for another kiss before Mipha stretched herself back out atop of him, the two indulging only for a few moments before Link curled up on his side to hold onto Mipha this time, resting his head on top of her chest as the tender scratched of her fingers trailed through his hair.

"I love you," spoke Mipha with luster in her voice, only causing Link to nuzzle ever closer against her chest, that much closer to her heart.

He muttered in reply, "Were all the years to pass- Were I to lose my very mind. If I forgot everything about you-"

A soft peck grabbed at her most delicate scales.

"My heart would never allow me to stop."

Mipha giggled, "So poetic for a Knight."

"Only for _your_ Knight," Link reminded, easily.


	42. Dawning of Untangled Secrets

A magnanimous, uncouth, and horribly disastrous yawn burst forth from Zelda's mouth as she threw her arms up into the air as far she could, twisting her shoulders atop the plush mattress to work out the kinks from within her spine. Her eyes opened as narrow as slits as the sun broke placidly through the curtain roof of the stable, sending her hands in a flurry to shield her eyes.

"Gaaaaah," she groaned in complaint, turning to her side to find solace, only returning to find the comfort of this bed that she knew must be vacated.

Such a thought immediately sent a frown across her face as she wormed her way to the edge of the bed, rolling her eyes lazily as if in disrespect for the very day itself; a very uncharacteristic outlook that symbolized just how tired she had been. Urbosa had put her through the paces, after all; never backing down, even as Zelda demanded more training with the sword. Even after a solid number of hours toward reclaiming sleep, Zelda felt weary, perhaps simply in reply to the journey itself. She remembered a similar feeling her last 'excursion', when she and Link visited the various shrines around Hyrule dedicated to the Goddesses.

Her smoky eyes broke open listlessly as she thought of that illness that had incapacitated her for much of their Akkala trip- what would have been her first, and only, time in the region before now. At least she wasn't passing out along the road this time around.

As quick as they'd come, her thoughts vanished as Zelda caught sight of herself in the mirror; a frightful visage visiting her there. Her hair had transformed into a messy mash of whatever-the-heck, attacked her head, and then grown into something quite monstrous, leaving Zelda downtrodden as she loosened another powerful yawn into the air, throwing her legs off the bed to be slung onto the floor.

She pushed herself to her feet, their weighted presences dragging along as Zelda scooted toward the door to her room, head hanging low in infinite exhaustion as she reached for the door's handle, sliding it open weakly before her brow furrowed in confusion, albeit hidden behind the mass of hair that trailed even in front of her face.

Urbosa was standing there, though in that second between Zelda opening the door and noticing her, the Gerudo's scowl grew intense.

"U- Ur-"

"What's going on in there, huh?!" Urbosa demanded, quickly stomping toward the door and sidling past Zelda's inert body.

Zelda watched with worry as Urbosa immediately began circling the room like a dog looking to lay down before the Gerudo came to a presumably satisfactory conclusion. Her breath left in a relieved sigh before she smiled, nodding to herself and making her exit.

"Wait, wait, wait," Zelda hounded immediately, "What was _that_?!"

Urbosa only glanced at her from over her shoulder as if in ignorance, "Whatever do you mean?"

Zelda threw her hands toward the door with a droll, dripping look on her face.

The Gerudo shrugged, "Link wasn't in his room. So, I had to make sure he wasn't in _here_, making merry with my little girl."

"W- What?!" Zelda cried out.

Still, Urbosa cracked a smirk, "Still, his absence narrows the field quite definitely… Oh yes…"

Like a panther launching itself toward prey, Zelda swung her arms around Urbosa, yanking her back into her room before slamming shut the door, frighteningly throwing herself against the door to brace it for an extra preventative measure.

"U- U- U-! Urbosa!" Zelda shouted, "You- You can't-!"

The Gerudo shrugged, "Can't do what? So, I know Link and Mipha are like sand-seals on a cloudy evening, big deal."

"No! _Massive_ deal!" Zelda challenged, "I-! I'm not supposed to tell anybody!"

"You didn't!" Urbosa shrugged as if it were the simplest thing, "Folly upon those who refuse to recognize the perceptive abilities of us Gerudo. How do you think I narrowed it down between Link bounding around with either you or Mipha in the first place?"

"B- B- B-" Zelda stammered, smoke exiting her ears as her eyes blankened "B- Bounding..?"

Urbosa chuckled at Zelda's naivete, simply brushing past the Hylian with a pat on her shoulder, "Don't worry; I won't make a big deal about it."

"That-! That's exactly what you'll do!" Zelda challenged, pulling Urbosa back toward her, "Look! You said you weren't gonna train me, right?! If you're gonna get Link to train me- How's he going to accept such an arrangement if he knows I blabbed?!"

Shrugging dramatically, Urbosa rolled her eyes, "Who blabbed?! The only thing that's been spilled is- Well, that's a different topic for a different time. Speaking of!"

Urbosa returned her advance toward the doorway, though Zelda was quick to grapple her arm, her yanking turning out to be nearly futile amidst Urbosa's determined motions. The Gerudo smirked expectantly as she opened the door, peering down the hallway toward Link's vacant room before turning her eyes to Mipha's.

"And now…" Urbosa proclaimed with quiet expectation, "We wait."

"Wait _nothing_!" Zelda shouted, now furiously attempting to wrangle away the powerful woman from the doorway.

Urbosa absent mindedly kept Zelda at arm's length, her eyes curling with intrigue as she stared down the hallway, "Juuust a- OW! No biting!"

The wrestling match went on, even if it were Zelda's entire body against Urbosa's single arm, until the loud _click_ of mechanism tore through the air. Zelda's eyes went wide as her body stiffened, watching Urbosa with terror from within her room, finding the Gerudo with a mere look of placidity upon her face.

Link strode out from Mipha's room, stopping halfway beyond the threshold as Urbosa's glance caught him in an immobilizing steel trap. He watched her with indifference, wondering why she might have been scoping him out. He remained still, half in curiosity, half in uncertainty- uncertainty whether he should be worried.

As if sensing his dilemma, Urbosa's lips curved into a smirk as her head half-nodded in a show of pride toward him.

Link's insides overturned in nausea. Without any retort available to him besides remaining still with a brave look upon his face, he simply stared down Urbosa as the Gerudo woman turned back into the room she's been half-hearted from.

"Oh, they're _totally_ a thing," Urbosa noted wryly, "No wonder he was so fiercely loyal. Mipha'd probably stab him in the chest were he to mess around."

Zelda waved her hands in the air, "Just-! What are saying?!"

Her fingers clanking rhythmically atop her chin, Urbosa wondered aloud in devilish interest to herself, "-but what if that Sworn Brother thing…"

Zelda watched her warily for a moment before spinning away in frustration, "I-! I'm _still_ upset with you! Link will never teach me now!"

Abandoning the canon swirling around in her head, Urbosa shrugged measly, "He's not gonna deny you instruction, don't worry. He knows I'm just teasing- I don't care one way or the other if those two are together. Though I can see why they'd be apprehensive about- I'm more hurt than anything that they didn't let me in on their tryst!"

She aimed her open palms toward herself, "What's not to trust about Aunt Urbosa?!"

Zelda's furtive, yet subtly angered, face carried on drolly as Urbosa shrugged in feigned sincerity, "What?!"

"Just let me get ready," grumbled Zelda from behind the messy hair shadowing her face, "This is the first morning where I've longed for the comforts of home, so I'd like to just bear my head down and-"

"Say no more, child," Urbosa asserted calmly, reaching out to gently stroke her surrogate daughter's arm, "I will make sure there is something in the way of breakfast for you."

"Thank you," Zelda nodded really, only to sigh with apology, "Sorry for being a grouch."

Urbosa smirked, raising a knowing finger into the air, "I know you too well, dear. No need for apologies. I did make sure to bring- Ah, well, I suppose it might be better as a surprise."

Piquing the young woman's interest, Urbosa left with a confident grin, knowing Zelda's mind, awash with speculation, would quite easily escape the morning grumbliness that now inhabited the Princess' mind.

Shutting Zelda's door behind her, Urbosa made her way along the perimeter of the stable's interior, knocking on Revali'a door as she passed by, shouting, "C'mon, Revali! Early bird gets the-! Ah, well, you know."

Continuing her gait outdoors, Urbosa was happy to find the two Hylian stable hands, though the pair of them were in much greater spirits than the night before. Instead of intruding upon their attempts at beginning breakfast, Urbosa raised her arms, stretching them as high as she could, until her middle-aged joints began to crackle in a morning chorus she had come to known well, even if it had largely been in apprehension.

The Akkalan air had greatly cooled overnight, stripping the landscape of its humidity for the most part, which Urbosa greatly appreciated. She slipped a jar out from her side-strewn knapsack, taking a dab of moisturizer from its contents and dotting her arm before returning the medicament, along her full use of her hands to spread the silky concoction along her arms, contentedly watching the sunrise while her muscles beamed at being massaged after a night's rest.

"Early bird… Pah…" she heard from behind her, grinning at even Revali's grouchy attitude.

She shrugged, "I think we all do better sleeping atop the ground. Beds just make us long for home."

"Geh," Revali cowered at the thought, "Upon the ground… Yeach."

Urbosa smirked, "What, do the Rito sleep in the sky as well?"

She noticed Revali's pithy glance, which only amused her further, leaving her humming to herself as she continued her self-care, sighing fondly as Revali strode away toward the campfire before ensuring his separateness by sitting as far as he could from Daruk and the two Hylians.

Her eyes narrowed inquisitively at Daruk stomping toward her from below the nearest hill, throwing his hands up in triumph as he happily presented his morning's catch.

"Check _you_ out," Urbosa noted in praiseworthy musings.

Daruk chuckled, "Even made of stone, we Gorons can still make hunters yet!"

The Gerudo woman watched with interest as Daruk showed off the line of rope he had used to tie up his catch, "Got a couple rabbits, and a handful of fish before collecting a few herbs."

"Not gonna make you sick again, are they?" Urbosa inquired with a grin.

"N- No," Daruk nervously assured, "That, uh- Zelda frightened me enough. Best not to get ill around her… I just figured it was the least I could do in return for our hosts' generosity."

"And for last night," Urbosa nodded knowingly.

"Eh, well- I suppose," Daruk chuckled with a nervous timbre.

A sigh escaped him mostly in silence. Standing with various creatures hanging from over his shoulder along his rope line, Daruk nervously pawed at his side, taking stock of his thoughts all while Urbosa laid an inquisitive, sidelong glance upon him. His lips yanked to one side as he mustered his words.

"Y'know, I didn't sleep much last night," he admitted, lifting his hand to show off the line, "I did most of this overnight. I was just thinking about everything, or- Well, us all getting up to Vah Rudania, anyway. I was so down about not being able to return yours and Mipha's kindness, but now that it has become a possibility to do so- Now I'm simply weighted down by the responsibility."

He groaned repeatedly, "I ran across the whole mountain in my mind's eye, thinking of routes, of potential plan b's, everything. Now I'm simply nervous."

A deep chuckle greeted him as Urbosa reached over to smack his arm, "The carefree Daruk, of all people, considering all the negative implications of his actions?!"

She crossed her arms, "Half of your notoriety comes from her penchant for wild bouts of stupidly charging, head-first, into problems, I thought."

Scratching his chin nervously, Daruk muttered, "I'd like to think there's _some_ strategy involved…"

Another amused chuckle left Urbosa, "Look, Daruk- We have you here for a reason. You know the mountains of Eldin the best. You'll do fine guiding us; I know you will. Even if you have a Zora up there, I know you'll rise to the occasion. You're a Champion after all."

"But what if-" Daruk muttered, "What if I wasn't the right one for the job..?"

Watching him curiously, Urbosa considered what might have elicited such a thought within this Goron's mind. She slumped her shoulders as she turned toward him, breaking her arms free from her torso as she reached for one of the fist hanging over Daruk's shoulder.

"Come on," she offered, pulling the tuna free and taking a seat, whipping out a knife, "You're not about to offer uncleaned animals to the stable boys."

Daruk's brow furrowed, embarrassed that he hadn't even considered such a thing, before rushing to sit himself, carefully working on skinning the next fish along his line.

"My bad…" he spoke up weakly, "My mind's been-"

Urbosa's sharp shake of her head quieted him, "There's no time for apologies. Now, what brought all this on? Zelda chose you because you were the best for the job."

Gritting his teeth, Daruk noted, "You _do_ recall, just a moment ago, you noted that much of my success has been boorish resilience, right?"

"So? Sometimes that's what people need," Urbosa smirked, tossing a strip of tuna scales toward a nearby tree for the various fauna of the region to consume, "You get people who spend so much time not acting, because they want plans that are airtight, or because of apprehension. You need somebody who'll simply get the job done, few questions asked. King Dorephan? That whole mess would've not happened, at least not in that way, had he simply stuck to his guns and turned away the earliest Niq people."

A droll expression met her as Daruk, "So Zelda chose me because I don't think?"

"Hey, _you_ said it," Urbosa teased, sticking a tongue past her lips before bowing her head to focus on her knifework, "I don't know why she chose you. Except that she thought you were right for the job, and fully expected you to come into your own as such."

Still quite uncertain, Daruk allowed his eyes to wander awkwardly as his own knifework went unabated, any stray slice merely bouncing off his stony skin.

"That said," Urbosa smirked, "So far, Zelda came into her own, and then Mipha. Should current trends continue, you'd be next in line, I suppose."

Daruk rolled his eyes, though such an insinuation finally brought him to chuckle himself, shaking his head, "So far as the trails of the mountain go, there's little I haven't already confronted and conquered. It's _you_ all I'm worried about."

"Oh ho ho," Urbosa suddenly goaded, "Even me?!"

Daruk smirked mischievously, "Perhaps most of all. and we've a Zora with us."

"Well, I'll be!" Urbosa chortled in feigned objection, joining along in a laugh as the turn turned to find Mipha walking toward them, the Gerudo happily greeting her, "Morning, Mipha!"

Such a grandiose expression left Mipha temporarily stifled as she muttered, "Uh- Morning?"

"Ah, Mipha!" Daruk charged, presenting the slivers of tuna he had managed to fillet, "How's that?!"

She scrutinized his work with a scrupulous eye, nodding carefully, "They look nice!"

"Ha!" Daruk shouted, turning toward Urbosa, "Match that!"

The Gerudo watched him with incredulous eyes, "Seriously? I could better fillet one of these with a hand tied behind my back."

She presented her own work, noting aloud as Mipha turned to examine her fillets, "Don't lie to the poor Goron; it'll go to his head."

"D-Don't lie?" Mipha questioned quietly, uncertainty lining her voice.

Urbosa gave a fierce nod, "Of course not! If Daruk is seeking a contest, I'll- Just look at how delicately smooth my fillets turned out! Right along the grain, just how it should b-"

"Actually…" Mipha frowned, "These are all wrong…"

"What?!" Urbosa cried out, sending Mipha recoiling in sudden surprise.

"I-! I-!" she stammered as Urbosa examined her fillets.

The Gerudo eyed Daruk with a piercing gaze as the Goron began to laugh heartily, grabbing his stomach, "BWAH HA HA! I told you!"

"Told me wh- These are immaculate!" Urbosa demanded, hopping to her feet and holding out the lengths of fish, "Look again!"

Mipha did as she was asked, though quickly explained, "I- I mean- I'm not saying they're not perfect, just- Most Zora would simply prefer Daruk's offering. See how he catches the most minute glances of fattiness in every segment?"

"Just out of random?!" Urbosa charged in severe questioning.

Daruk boisterously continued his racket, patting the Gerudo's shoulder, "HAH! Perhaps I _am_ coming into my own! Who knew?!"

"Coming… into…" Mipha mouthed thoughtfully, uncertain as to his reference.

"Save it, Boulder Boy," Urbosa frowned is dis-spirit, "I'm still the arm-wrestling Queen, remember."

Daruk cleared his throat to put on the façade of a connoisseur, "It appears to me, dear lady, that my skilled hands are simply better suited for the finer things."

"_Dear_ _lady_?" Urbosa goaded with a wry smirk, "You're gonna go _there_, eh?"

Daruk retorted with a heated glance, "I've already gone there, missy."

"Oh, it's _on_!" Urbosa cried out before falling back to the ground, slamming another fish atop her thighs to fillet it as well, "Grab that last one and we'll _really_ see!"

Daruk emulated her with a zealous air that caused Mipha to step back a few paced in worry, turning to find Zelda watching the two's wild theatrics in her own exhausted look.

"Should- we do something?" Mipha questioned with worry.

Zelda shrugged, pulling a mug toward her mouth for a sip, "It might be best to simply allow them to… do whatever it is they're doing. Besides, it allowed me the chance to dig through Urbosa's packs and find what she had saved for me."

She grinned, holding up her mug in presentation, "Some nightshade spores. You add it to something warm and it melts into the best cup of anything."

Fondly staring into the mug, Zelda explained further with a homely smile, "Mom used to make it for me. I suppose Urbosa was saving it for when I got homesick."

A moment passed, with Mipha watching Zelda's warm smile stretching gradually across her face, fading only as she noticed Mipha's glance, "Sorry. You want some?"

"O- Oh, no; I couldn't!"

Thinking of Urbosa's near-ravenous quest to figure out the secret between Link and Mipha, Zelda bit her lip at Mipha's refusal, hoping to at least earn something of points before the Zora found out about her poor job at remaining secretive of their relationship, "Don't worry; it's not bad!"

"Come on!" Zelda goaded, stretching the mug out from her as far as she could.

Mipha sighed in listless resignation before offering a menial smile of her own, "Alright, I suppose."

"It's delicious! There are notes of lavender in there, with a hint of honey as well," Zelda explained in esoteric terminology.

The Zora carefully took the mug from her, careful to not dare drop it before allowing her fingers to slither into the handle. Mipha watched the darkened liquid as it reverberated from end to end, taking a quick smell to find it rather sweet, her lips curling low in discerned taste.

"Smells nice," she nodded before pulling the mug toward her.

She took a sip, allowing a quick slosh atop her tongue's pallet before swallowing, catching the warm liquid flowing through her body, making everything within her feel so much alive at that moment. She couldn't help but shiver at the sensation, causing Zelda to giggle.

"Hot," Mipha noted, suddenly coughing politely into the back of her hand.

Zelda apologized, "Sorry; I probably should have mentioned that. Was it good?"

The rolling heat within her sent Mipha's mind back to Link, catching only part of Zelda's question in full context, resulting in her reply coming across rather low, "Loved it…"

Zelda's head fell to one side, "Huh. I knew it was good, but-"

"Stable boy!" Urbosa suddenly shouted, rushing across the plains landscape surrounding the large tent of the Akkalan stable, "I assure you, _my_ catch will be more worthy of tasting in the morning!"

"BAH!" Daruk grumbled loudly, having been tripped by the Gerudo at the start of their mad dash to seek approval from the stablehands.

The Hylian man quaked in fear as the two large bodies converged on his position, stumbling backwards until Urbosa slid to a stop before him, throwing her hands in his face with a myriad of fish fillets dangling in front of his eyes.

"Look, see? Huh? How precisely imprecise they are!" she spoke up excitedly.

Daruk clamored behind her, "No! Listen not to her lies! Only a Goron knows how to properly slice! Ask the Zora over there! she'll tell you!"

The Hylian shook in violent shock, "F- F- Fish?! For b- breakfast?!"

Zelda watched from afar with a worried brow, tapping a finger to her lips as she shook her head, "Perhaps it truly _is_ better off we sleep on the ground…"

"Best not to get comfortable, anyway," came Link's voice as he stepped out from within the stable, his own expression one of concern as he took stock of the situations playing out before him, "Can't say I was expecting it to drive those two mad, though."

Mipha smiled abashedly, slowly offering the mug in her hand to Link while Zelda surmised quietly, "It's no more mad than any other display of camaraderie. Competition is just how those two show affection for one another."

Link cleared his throat, and while apprehensive about taking the cup from Mipha, took it for a quick sip to battle the lump in his throat resulting from Zelda's words.

"Affection in a platonic sense," Zelda assured with a smile, turning back toward the two with a gradually darkening expression, "Speaking of…affec-

"No!" cried the Hylian stablehand, cautiously pushing past the three as he covered his ears, "I'm not making fish stew for breakfast!"

Urbosa assured, "But-!"

"This will all go to waste!" Daruk shouted.

The stablehand spun around, crying out in dismay, "Then why did you cut up so much of it?!"

Unable to reply meaningfully, Daruk and Urbosa eyed one another quizzically as the Hylian groaned dejectedly, spinning around to head back into the stable, "I'll continue with the _normal_ breakfast for everybody… Goddess…"

Sighing, Zelda ran a hand along her face, "Nothing but trouble… I'm going to have to leave a sizeable tip for the poor guys."

"At least they're making the Kingdom look better in comparison," Link shrugged, taking a sip of Zelda's brew, "Wow, that's nice. What's in it?"

He turned to Mipha, believing it to be hers, but Zelda was quick to pipe up excitedly, "Oh! It's just a concoction of tea leaves, nightshade sp- What?!"

Link immediately held out the mug for her to take, a wary look on his face, "I know better than to drink anything that you describe as a 'concoction'."

"It's _not_ bad; even Mipha had a sip of it," Zelda grumbled, snatching the mug away from Link's unappreciative grasp.

Link's eyes wandered as he nodded in feigned agreement, suddenly zeroing in on Revali, "Why not offer some to Revali, then? That's the _real_ test, isn't it?"

"My mother's tea is _not_ in need of a test," Zelda grumbled, "Though, I have no trouble offering some to all of my companions on this journey. I will offer him some, but not because of your suggestion, Link."

Link frowned, throwing a fist across his body, "Darn it!"

Eyeing him cryptically for a moment, Zelda turned to wander on over to where Revali had been sitting away from the group. Link watched expectantly, even as Mipha sidled closer toward him with a grave tone in her voice.

"Uh, Link," she spoke up quietly with unease, "This morning, Urbosa-"

Link pressed a finger to his lips to silence her as he whispered, "Waaait for it…"

Mipha's expression turned curious as she turned to find Link watching Zelda standing over Revali, her mug held low in offering. After a short back and forth, the Rito suddenly took the mug for a taste, leaving Link with a rather giddy chuckle. Mipha's eyes narrowed, uncertain as to what exactly they were waiting for, until in a split second, Revali's entire body thrust forward as his head lunged toward to ground, spraying the ground with tea as he spit out what of it he had consumed, much to Zelda's horror.

Link crossed his arms, laughing under his breath before turning toward Mipha with a grin, "It's like a natural thing. No Rito can stand the taste of nightshade plants."

He caught Revali staring him down from afar, leaving Link to nod with accompaniment from his smirking grin, allowing the blame to rest solely upon his shoulders as Zelda quickly helped dry off what of the tea had gotten on Revali's feathers.

"I will say, your pranks are far more amusing when they're not aimed toward me," Mipha grinned mischievously.

Link caught her with a sure glance of his own, "Come on, they weren't ever _all_ that bad. I was a kid; my mind is far more adept at pranks, now."

He watched Revali sputter to himself after returning the mug to Zelda for a moment longer, chuckling once again before asking of Mipha, "So, what was that about Urbosa?"

Mipha went over the Gerudo's overjoyed greeting in her mind once again, knowing it to be so out of place, particularly when the night before had been so ingrained within Mipha's mind. It only served to heighten the spotlight surrounding it- certainly, for a moment to significant for her, others would have noticed, right?

Did Urbosa know..?

Still, at the thought of Link's prank, her anxiety waned in gradual relief. Perhaps Urbosa was simply acting different to be odd or funny, or to get Mipha to believe she knew something she didn't. In any case, Mipha's mind slowly began to leave behind her uncertainty.

"It was probably nothing," Mipha replied, with only a small hint of regret in her voice.

Link shrugged, "Hmm, okay. Just let me know if it does become something. I know how she is."

He was still grinning as Zelda returned, clutching her mug angrily as she strode toward the two of them, muttering, "I bet you thought that was _really_ funny, huh?"

"Kind of, yeah," Link assured rather happily.

Zelda eyed him with frustration, thinking how close she had come to telling him of what Urbosa knew. Now that Link had levied her unknowingly for this plot, giving Zelda more sway for when she would ask him for swordplay lessons, her expression merely softened into a knowing smile of her own.

"Well, you two enjoy yourselves then, alright?" she smiled sourly, turning to continue past them, "After breakfast, we'll be carrying on to Robbie's, alright? Don't tarry, then."

She wandered off, carefully sipping from her mug as she did so, earning two inquirous stares from Link and Mipha as she did so.

"I think it's becoming something…" Mipha eeked out.

"No kidding," Link agreed with a careful tone as he crossed his arms.


	43. Doctor Robbie's Magnificent Machinations

A massive, guttural coughing blew pitterances of charred, acrid breath beyond the reaches of the billowing cloud of grey soot that enveloped the entirety of the Akkalan lighthouse. The source of the massive plume of sickening exhaust remained consumed by the smoke, but the owner of that putrid cough stumbled into view, an old Sheikah man waving his hand in front of his face as he escaped the black cloud.

"Hack hack!" he coughed up, covering his face with the collar of his white jacket, "C'mon now, Dolly! For _once_, could you work properly?"

He took a step closer, hoping to stop the endless plumage of fumes, but almost in response to his bitter demand, a loud _CRACK_ burst through the cloud, sending the man skittering back toward the wall.

"O-Okay! Message received! I'll just, eh- wait outside, until you calm down, alright, Dolly?"

Pawing at the wall until finding the door to the lighthouse, Robbie managed to escape out into the fresh Akkalan air, muttering frankly to himself as he stumbled along the dirt road ahead of him, turning around only after pulling his goggles to his shirt to have its lenses cleaned off.

"Golly," he muttered to himself, nary a hint of cynicism as he concluded, "Must'a been the torque on the springs were set too tight. Yep. You knew that, didn't you?"

He sighed in worrisome thought as the cloud of thick smoke began ejecting through the top of the lighthouse, now floating up into the sky, "Purah isn't gonna like that. Another welfare check will be in order, I s'pose."

"No matter," he immediately retaliated, grabbing a nearby twig and starting on new plans, digging lines into the dirt beneath him to begin blue-printing his next course of action, "Remove some torque from the springs. Eh, that'll affect the coils; gotta set those up differently, then. The whole mechanism's gonna need a once over, I suppose. All the better; measure thrice, mess up once. Impa. Page 82. Notes for Robbie."

He sighed, "Oh, how understanding she is."

The short, Sheikah man was still lost in his thoughts, both toward his colleagues as well as his current work, when a rampaging stampede of steps approached him from behind; the stranger's presence, and even their words, wholly concealed behind his attentive concerns of his inner thoughts, now tumultuous as they were, though as if a switch were pulled, Robbie suddenly perked up in rabid shock, spinning around and throwing his hands into an assertive posture, only to find Princess Zelda hustling toward him with an elated wave of her hand.

"Robbie!" she cried warmly.

Eyes drawn into slants, Robbie carefully examined the rapidly approaching figure for a brief moment before throwing up his hands in fright, "H- Hold up! You'll trample my notes!"

Skidding to a stop, Zelda tossed her body to the side, wiggling her balance to and fro as she delicately avoided the dirt in front of her, somehow intuitively knowing that the Sheikah man had, indeed, inferred that his 'notes' were etched into the ground. Such tales, regaled by Zelda's "Aunt Purah" prepared her for such habits of Robbie.

"Sorry! I didn't get any of them, did I?" Zelda wondered warily, taking a glance over her shoulder.

Robbie flatly noted aloud, "No. No. You were a good few meters out."

Frowning, Zelda pushed her fists into her hips, "You made it sound like I was about to kill somebody."

"My apologies, child," Robbie assured, running a hand nervously through his thick tuft of hair, "This entire area has become my sketchpad as of late. Whenever I'm having trouble with Dolly, I get sent out here to complete my thoughts."

"Oh!" Zelda spoke up gleefully, "You're married?!"

Robbie eyed her, noticing his faux pas, before muttering briefly, "No."

Zelda's eyes narrowed in an instant with fierce confusion, though Robbie was quick to cover his own tracks, pressing on in conversation, "Heavens, child, you're all the way out here with nary an escort?! Surely you know the Yiga are increasingly present out here!"

Quickly reassuring the man with a smile, Zelda stepped to the side to point out the assorted mix of bodies following her up the road, "That's why I have all of them!"

"By the goddess!" Robbie mused with interest.

"I know!" Zelda exclaimed proudly, "Quite the amazing bunch of Champions, ri-?!"

"No, no!" Robbie interrupted, quickly skipping along the trail toward the Company, "That one there! The Goron!"

Zelda watched in confusion, even while Robbie trampled his dirt-strewn notation, the Sheikah man rushing toward the group with a loud declaration, "You! Protectors of the Princess!"

Link groaned, turning to Urbosa, "I told you not to let her run along."

Shrugging, Urbosa noted, "I didn't figure he'd be so heated about a few yards."

Robbie's face spun in furious intrigue, leaving Link to argue as he approached, "Look, we're _trying_ to keep her safe, but you should know she isn't one to easily be restrained."

"You!" Robbie demanded, ignoring all else as he pointed up toward the mountain of a man, literally, that was Daruk, "How dare you toy around with that instrument in your hand!"

Daruk watched with surprised eyes, examining the small object he had picked from the ground, tossing it as he strode along to entertain himself, "This rock?"

"Rock?!" Robbie sputtered as he began climbing up Daruk, reaching for the Goron's hands, "That's-! a-! sacred artifact!"

Quickly hoping to discourage the ofd scene from playing out any further, Daruk grabbed at Robbie's collar to pull him away, planting him back on the ground before handing him the tiny object, "Sorry, I suppose. I didn't know."

"Of course you wouldn't- This is ancient technology!" Robbie explained heatedly, throwing on his goggles before their inner pools of glass telescoped from his face in zoom.

Daruk's brow coiled in concern, turning toward the others, "If I couldn't have known, why is it my fault?"

He received only a few shruggish glances as Zelda caught up, a frown upon her as she spoke up, "Well, this was quite the greeting."

"No kidding," Daruk complained as he brushed off where Robbie's boots had slammed against his torso in his haste.

Robbie scrutinized the rugged piece in his hand, nodding to himself before scoffing, "Pah. It _is_ a rock."

Suddenly pointing to himself, aghast at the whole of Robbie's behavior up to this point, Daruk's mouth fell open, leaving Urbosa to quip, "Dude. Goron. Sort of an expert."

Robbie sneered up toward her as his goggles retracted back toward his face, "Well I'm as agog as you all are! I've scoured these lands thrice over trying to dig up all that I could!"

He flung the piece of rock away before spinning around, dropping his shoulders, "Ou-heww… and my _notes_! Bah…"

"Don't worry," Zelda assured happily, "Auntie Purah always said that your mind was not one to be deterred so easily! I'm sure you'll work your way through this."

Robbie grumbled, "They weren't _my_ notes. Ugh."

Her eyes narrowing in inquiry, Zelda watched carefully as Robbie sauntered off, mumbling to himself, "Dolly's gonna kill me…"

"Um," Zelda piped up curiously, "Who's Dolly?"

Lost in his thoughts, Robbie replied without filter, pointing up the hill toward the smoking lighthouse, "She's burning down my workspace at the moment."

"Robbie!" Zelda shouted, terrified both by the plumes of smoke as well as the scientist's indifference.

She turned to the others, demanding, "Guys! That wasn't a campfire- That's Robbie's _home_ burning down!"

The group's demeanor turning sour, even while Robbie pitter-pattered along mumbling to himself, with Daruk immediately taking off toward the building with the others in tow.

"Anything you need out of there?!" Zelda asked in a panic, though Robbie's silence was all that answered her, leaving her to shouting to Daruk as he gained distance, "Just-! I don't know; stop the fire!"

Daruk pumped a fist into the air in reply, Zelda's words finally yanking Robbie from his reverie, his eyes sprouting wide as he stammered in shock, "W- Wait! Don't-!"

"Don't worry, Mr. Robbie; Daruk's got it," Mipha assured as she glided past the scientists' stubby feet.

He shook his head," No! He mustn't-! GAH!"

Up ahead, Robbie caught the sight of Daruk running pell-mell through the shut door, slamming through its wooden frame with a SMASH, sending a thickeningly large plume of smoke from its entrance. Robbie's eyes sunk repeatedly as he broke his stride, now sauntering toward his workshop with a frown, rubbing his face ashamedly as he slowly came to the others, all if whom had now collected in front of the building.

"Fire doesn't hurt Gorons, does it?" Mipha inquired.

"Nah, he's fine," Urbosa nodded, "Unless there's a lava machine in there."

She began to snicker at such a humorously impossible invention, turning to Zelda with a chuckle, "Right?"

Zelda's eyes bore upon her with concern before turning toward Robbie incredulously, leaving Urbosa with a shocking turn of emotion, "Wait, what?!"

"No, no; it's a 'lava machine'," Robbie grumbled, "Doctor 0urah warded me from such things _long_ ago."

Zelda gave a relieved sigh.

"She said nothing about _magma_ machines, though," Robbie muttered notably to himself, curling his finger along his chin all while Zelda and Urbosa watched him with worry.

At that moment, Daruk's silhouette appeared in the doorway for but a flash as he stepped out from the smoky building, a strange looking machine cradled in his arms, a vent from the object's side pouring the thickly black substance into the air.

"I didn't see any fire," Daruk noted, careful not to come too close to the others, "But this _weird_ thing seems to be the source of-"

"Weird?!" Robbie exclaimed, trudging quickly toward Daruk, "My Dolly is _not_ weird, you tower of stone!"

The Goron watched with confusion as Robbie approached through the cloud of soot, reaching up to caress the machine's facing, "She might have quite the attitude, but she most certainly is _not_ weird! Her ferocity merely adds to her mystique, I'll have you know!"

Daruk's brow furrowed with unwavering concern as Robbie began pulling at the mechanism, "Now give it!"

He acquiesced in an instant, allowing Robbie to pull the box-like to the ground before opening up a thin sheet of metal from its side, "I suppose as long as she's outside, I can- Let's see-"

Robbie began his tinkering, even despise the plumes still being ejected from within the machine, the entire event causing Urbosa to turn to Zelda with a spinning forefinger around her ear.

"And here I thought you had gone and taken the _craziest_ people for this Company," she muttered disenchantingly.

Zelda sighed, "Look, Purah said- Well, she never said much about his personality, but Doctor Robbie is _supposed_ to be the preeminent mind when it comes to Guardian technology."

"Uh huh," Link nodded, "And how do we get that machine of his, Dolly, on _our_ side to convince him to help us?"

Smirking in appreciation of his snide comment, Urbosa joined in, "I don't know; she seems pretty hard headed to me."

"Guys, look, okay?" Zelda groaned, shoulders lowering faintly in defeat, "Just be nice. We need him to help us."

Link turned his head over his shoulder, muttering to Revali, "And you thought _I_ was bad."

The Rito's eyes had already gone narrow in critique of the tiny man scurrying about, replying with a low, yet nary teasing in his voice, "Not exactly a scale you'd like to find yourself on at all, Hylian."

Their attention immediately turned to Robbie's shrieking as Daruk attempted to help, the helpful pebble-paddler being intensely refused as Robbie cried, "H- Hey! Don't! Just-"

His arms flew furiously, almost humorously , against the Goron ten times his size, Robbie interjecting, "Shoo! This is _my_ Dolly!"

Daruk groaned before simply admitting defeat, trudging toward the group with a defeated frown, shaking his head as he shrugged, "You know, it isn't easy always trying to be polite."

"No kidding," Urbosa muttered crossly, "I'm still waiting on Zelda's plan to take effect."

Zelda rolled her eyes, "I'm thinking, alright? I mean, he's clearly distressed over his mailbox.

"Please, Hylian, the thimble man has clearly given the object a name," Revali spoke up sternly, "Best you respect Dolly."

Urbosa and Link both hid chuckles raising from the Rito's apparent credulity, though Revali immediately caught on, muttering further in explanation, "He's assigned respect to that object. If you wish to curry his favor, you might want to emulate him instead of treating this situation as one brute strength will win."

Daruk sighed in disappointment.

"Hmm," Zelda wondered aloud curiously, "You might have a point."

Revali glared toward her, "When haven't I?"

Failing to notice the bravado, Zelda had already begun watching Robbie with a furtive glance, examining the man working with a furious pace, as if he were working to resuscitate a fellow living being who had gone unconscious. Her eyes shone in curiosity, understanding, truly, how much Robbie admired the object that was continuing to spurt out smoke, obviously in contrast to his intentions.

Quickly, Zelda approached the Sheikah doctor and, instead of blindly offering aid, spoke up quietly as she bent down low toward Robbie, speaking carefully, "Is there anything we can do to help Dolly?"

Robbie paused his meticulously feral movements for a brief moment, as if sincerely pondering the question, before speaking in rushed tones, "My tools. From inside the lighthouse."

With a hastiness, Zelda's head went a flurry with nods before rising to quickly sprint toward the out of place lighthouse further up the hill, stopping with a skid as Robbie shouted, "You'll need two of you!"

"W- What?!" Zelda shouted, spun around in terror.

* * *

Urbosa threw the toolbox over her shoulder to better manage the weight, groaning intensely as she complained, "Goddess! This thing's a thousand pounds!"

"Four hundred eighty-seven and sixty-two point seven two nine pounds," Robbie corrected, plodding around with Dolly in his caring arms.

"Still too much," Urbosa shot out in distress, "How do you get it anywhere?"

Robbie eyed her, "I'm a Sheikah. I have my methods."

"Well that's cryptic," Urbosa muttered in conclusion, even as the group approached his workshop.

The doctor shook his head, "Not cryptic; merely resourceful. Easy to confuse the two. Perhaps why the stereotypes that surround us do."

"Ah yes," Revali retold, speaking up knowledgeably, "Even amongst us Rito, you Sheikah hold a rather untenable position. At least the Hylians, we know who to hold animosity toward. You Sheikah remain hidden and secretive."

"_Some_ of us," Robbie bit back, "Others like myself- we pride ourselves in our abilities to remain secluded, yet serviceable. to the right people, that is."

"Cryptiiic~" Urbosa whispered under her breath in a sing song tone.

Robbie complained, seemingly moving his mind from the topic at hand, "I thought my work with Dolly had- That is to say, my work with my new mailbox. I had hoped I was close to completing it, but this entire debacle has proven quite the opposite.

"A mailbox?!" Zelda sputtered incredulously, "_That_ thing?! It was like a coal mine a moment ago!"

Robbie shone with a frown as he argued, "Such narrow minded ideas. It's not a mailbox for _paper_. It's a _guardian_ mailbox. It's supposed to store all of the little bits I collect from all the guardians and, were I able to, spit them out to me from across the room, if need be."

"Uh huh," Urbosa nodded pithily, "Sounds practical…"

Catching her sarcasm, Robbie retorted, "It's not about practicality, Gerudo. It's about extending the boundaries of your knowledge! Pushing the limit! Why do you think Doctor Purah had me come all the way out here, to the middle of nowhere, to continue my work? because my work was all totally safe for being undertaken just above Hateno? Pah!"

While a wary look leapt from Mipha to Urbosa, Zelda spoke up in sudden excitement, "Then I was right! You _are_ the right person to ask about our dilemma!"

"Ah ha," Robbie nodded, "So that explains your arrival. You have a task only the Great, Eccentric Doctor Robbie can overcome, eh? You know, they say nobody can succeed like Doctor Robert, sic."

Zelda's eyes peered aimlessly across the horizon for a moment in consideration before shaking his odd diction from her mind, "Then perhaps you'll already have a good idea for us! See, we're trying to reach the top of Death Mountain, but we have Princess Mipha here, a Zora, so-"

"Can't be done," Robbie glibly interrupted.

Link released a heavy, relieved sigh.

Zelda's eyes focused with determination, "_What_ can't be done?"

"A Zora on top of Death Mountain. Are you insane?" Robbie asserted with a biting tone.

Revali scoffed, turning his head away in disgust, "Good to know these last few days were a waste…"

"As much as I hate to agree with him, it seems that way to me as well," Urbosa relented with a sigh, asking quickly enough, "So you're saying there's not even a point in trying?"

"Pfft, there's always a reason for attempting the impossible. Haven't you ever examined the very world around you that you inhabit?" Robbie asked, much to Urbosa's alarm.

"I suppose you _do_ have a point," Urbosa frowned.

Mipha listened intently, wanting so desperately to inquire further, to keep herself included, but she only thought of Link's objection. Her lips curled intently as she listened further, hoping not to bring any distress to Link by her insistence, though, like clockwork, Zelda took to the fore.

"So we could _try_ something?"

"Of course! I haven't a clue what you might-" Robbie interceded, though came to a halt, rubbing his mouth with his hand, "You know, I haven't ever thought much about it to be honest."

He spun around, looking so much more tiny with the large 'mailbox' in his arms, glancing inquisitively at Mipha while the others looked on in awkwardly.

"It's settled, then," Robbie suddenly nodded.

Urbosa's eyes shrank, "Literally _nothing_ was settled…"

"I'm always up for a challenge. Doll- My _mailbox_, here, is a prime example. I was, perhaps, a bit hasty in my assessment a moment ago," he grumbled under his breath, scooting the guardian mailbox up his body so he could push his glasses up his nose, "You _did_ catch me at a good time, or place, rather. Doctor Purah wouldn't dare allow her student's mind to wander where she might not allow, but allow it I must!"

"Now," he nodded as he approached the lighthouse, carefully sliding the mailbox object onto the ground just nearby, "What is your plan?"

"For ascending the Eldin Mountains?" Zelda clarified before offering, "Well, Daruk mentioned something of ventilation shafts dug into the mountain. He surmised that they might be cooler than ascending the cliffs."

Robbie nodded, "So there is a plan to mitigate the heating effects. Uh huh, uh huh. That ought to help the parameters I'm to strive for. How long will you all be up there?"

Clearing his throat, wavering under the tiny being's glare, Daruk stumbled to answer, "If, uh, all things go well, perhaps three days? The vents are far easier to traverse than the mountains' outer shell."

"Hmm," Robbie nodded with crossed arms, "Three days- Perhaps a few hundred degrees centigrade- Hmm, yes; I'll see what I can do for you, Princess Zelda."

Her eyes widened in amazement, "Really?! Th- Thank y-!"

"No promises!" Robbie suddenly scolded, "I'm all for utilizing guardian technology to play hopscotch with the boundaries of nature- But some things just aren't meant to be in our reality. Zoras on Death Mountain are one of them."

A crestfallen expressed came upon Mipha's face as Robbie's coarse words ground along her ears, leaving her hands clutching the straps of her rucksack ever harder.

"You!" Robbie shouted in a burst of energy, causing Mipha to jolt herself back to reality.

"Y- Yes?!"

He waved her over, "Well, come along then! I must know what I'm working with!"

She turned to Link with a worried expression, though he merely shrugged before tilting his head as if to deflect blame. Indeed, it was Zelda who happily brushed up against Mipha to pat her shoulder.

"This is amazing! We may yet be stepping into a new era for Hyrule in more ways than one!" Zelda exclaimed in untoward speculation, "Just think of the insane possibilities!"

Robbie gave a thumbs up alongside a smirk, "Now _that's_ the adventurer's spirit! Now, already, my mind is all aswirl with potential ideas, so we best begin before I start losing them to the neth-"

He frowned.

"Oop. Well, there went one."

Zelda suddenly took hold of Mipha's shoulders, charging her toward the lighthouse, despite it still lingering with smoke, the Princess crying out, "Go! Go! Go!"

"Z- Zelda?!" Mipha exclaimed in fright, but before any help could even hope to help her, Zelda and Robbie had rushed the workshop with a zealous stride, leaving the other Champions alone in an awkward air.

Urbosa's eyes were left squinting as she spoke in a hushed tone, "Did- that just happen?"

"I do believe so," Link frowned before loosening his rucksack, allowing him to unsling it from over his shoulder, "Well, for now, anyway, I suppose we'll be staying here. Might as well get acclimated."

He dropped his rucksack against the side of the lighthouse, musing toward Revali as he slid the Master Sword beside his pack, "You can complain now."

Shrugging, Revali's eyes coursed, "Joke's on you, Hylian; I find this environment rather pleasant. Far more enjoyable than the other locations we've been forced to traverse."

"Well that's a first," Link smirked to himself, shaking his head, turning his attention to Daruk as he planted his fists atop his waist, "Daruk? You okay?"

The Goron had been noticeably frigid since their arrival to Robbie's, a result of the fretful results of his helpful nature, though at Link's question, Daruk only sighed before letting loose a weak smile, "Just peachy, Brother."

Leaning toward Revali, Urbosa muttered lowly, "Do all Gorons lie so poorly?"

"His emotionally charged tone leaves little to be deduced," Revali grumpily noted, as if disappointed in Daruk's inept attempt at lying.

Daruk threw his hands up in defeat, though still asserted, "So what? A Goron can't mull around?"

"Can they?" Urbosa wondered sincerely, having never encountered such a thing in her years.

Now frowning, Daruk turned toward Link, "Peachy."

Link nodded to him, deciding not to upset him further by continuing the topic, instead speaking up as he dug through his rucksack, "Well, if any of you would like- So long as we're here, I'd like to visit a lake nearby. If any of you are up for tagging along and seeing the sights-"

"You? Leaving?" Urbosa mused, "Leaving the Princess?"

Link eyed her, "I've heard the stories that come from Kakariko. Evil itself isn't stupid enough to try and confront whatever Robbie has concocted."

Chuckling mutedly, Urbosa half-shrug, "I suppose you have a point. He some seem to inhabit a space between sanity and- Well, you know. Just the individual to solve our dilemma, I suppose."

Link's eyes went blank as he peered into his bag, thinking of the possibility of Robbie actually solving the impossibility he has off-handedly spoke up. The scientist's words had immediately comforted him, yet his zeal at attempting the task left Link with a wary heart, thinking of Mipha, even now, being lured to such terrors that even she, with all her fighting prowess, was ill-equipped to manage.

With Daruk's sour mood, coupled with Revali's usual disquieting attitude, left the air with some tinge of finality, leaving Urbosa to clap her hands with a simple, "Welp. So long as it's break time, I'm gonna go check out the view. I've never had the chance to see 'the cube' up here."

A wry smile left her as she glance at Revali, "No chance you could fly me over to it, huh?"

His eyes winced in disgust, "Not for all the rupees in Hyrule…"


	44. Learning on the Fly

Zelda stepped out from Robbie'a workshop in a near daze, her eyes turning to slits as the orange sunlight overtook her sight. She covered her face with her hand, allowing her to peer out toward Link and Daruk, who were just starting off down the trail from the lighthouse, leaving Zelda frightened as she bounded toward them.

"Wait!" she shouted desperately, "Don't leave! We just-!"

The two slowly spun around to watch Zelda kick up clouds of dirt as she sped toward them, still yelling, "We just made some progress! We can't abandon the mission now!"

She reached the two before falling forward, clutching her knees as she panted quietly, "I know it's crazy right now, but- I know Robbie is kind of unique, and I know my ideas are often crazy, but I think- We might have something here, don't you think?"

Link watched her curiously, turning toward Daruk with a wry glance, "I dunno; you think we should stay?"

Panic pelted through Zelda's heart.

Still in his downtrodden mood, Daruk simply shrugged, leaving Link to sigh as he returned to Zelda, "We weren't leaving, dummy."

"Then-! Why'd you let me keep talking!" Zelda asked in frustration, "You made me say my ideas were crazy!"

Link smirked, "I was hoping for more than that, honestly. We're just going down the embankment to Bloodleaf Lake."

"A lake? Why?" Zelda inquired.

"To pay some respect," Link shrugged, "You ought to come, too, now that I think about it."

Zelda watched him curiously, unsure as to his motives. She hadn't known him to have ever been to Akkala besides the previous occasion where she had been with him. Even then, an illness have overtaken her at the time, and she had been passed out for much of their travels. Still, with curiosity abound, Zelda nodded sincerely in reply.

"Alright," she spoke up uncertainly, "Any particular reason? I didn't know you'd been back here since we had both come through here to visit the shrine."

Link didn't reply, simply turning back toward the road and sauntering off with Daruk in tow, leaving Zelda confused as her eyes carried her along the landscape, wondering if she had missed something during her first journey here.

"You know," she muttered, "You never did tell me what happened when I was sick."

Link shrugged, "You didn't particularly like me telling you much of anything back then."

Frowning, Zelda's eyes spun distasteful, "Yeah, yeah, I know I was a pain. I just-"

"A _royal_ pain."

Zelda'a face constricted to show how unamused she had found his clarification, instead speaking up drolly, "_or_, you know, you could simply answer the question."

Link smirked at her defiant attitude, his voice coming out somber in spite of his expression, "People died."

Even Daruk's brow raised inquisitively at the Hylian's words, though Zelda's jaw fell in shock, "W- What?!"

"You were sick," Link explained, "The closest doctor was Impa, back in Kakariko, so I had to choose whether to stay at your side and let you die, or leave you somewhere while I went back for help, alone, which was quickest. Wasn't much of a decision, so I dragged you to the nearest house and made my way back. The next day, their home was aflame, the target of some Yiga peons, so I dispatched them and got you out to safety."

Zelda had stopped mid-stride, forcing Link and Daruk to follow suit, the Knight's eyes watching Zelda with little more than casual contact. Zelda's eyes scanned the dirt below, brow quivering, as she turned up her sight to Link in anguished confusion.

"Why didn't you tell me..?"

Link shrugged, "It was in the after-action report. Captain Ruzoll figured it was best to keep it from you. No need for you to feel guilty over an incident beyond your control."

Zelda shook gradually as she stood there, leaving Link to turn back toward the embankment, stepping along as he explained, "I supposed it was the least I could do to visit. I don't make it a habit of doing such things, though."

"Plus," he further surmised, throwing a thumb in Daruk's direction, "I figured he could use a bit of a walk."

Daruk grumbled, still not wholly fond of their newest host.

Her eyes low as she began again, Zelda gave a worrisome frown at the thought of being responsible for such a thing as the death of one of her own people, much less a family.

"_Their _home," Zelda repeated quietly.

Link sighed dismissively, "There were four of them. A mother and father, two sons. Seemed like your normal farmers."

He shrugged, "We spoke little, though. Seemed like decent people. The old man taught me how to comfort wild stallions."

A somber air hovered overtop the trio as they trailed down the last slope, rounded by a number of Robbie's blue lamps that had now been struck into the ground since the last time Link had seen this place. Had a year not passed, the rubble might have remained visible, but now, Link's eyes only traced the rudimentary outline of a burnt-down frame of a home, one he had seen for only a brief moment, yet had etched itself firmly into his memory.

Zelda watched longingly herself, reflecting on her role as princess, yet being party to the deaths of a family. For as long as she had known she was destined to use some esoteric abilities to help bring Hyrule to a knew era of prosperity, and for as long as shed been aware, she understood that she had been a failure. She never had those abilities, and after traveling the world, begging for an answer, and receiving nothing in reply from the Goddesses, she knew she would never attain them.

That fact simply kept her at zero. But now realizing that those powers were meant to help people- without them, she was actively doing harm to the world. It was no different than if she had knowledge of magic and refused to use it for good entirely. Guilt crept up into her gut, a nauseous welling up of acid in her stomach.

"That was before, though," Link shrugged, "I just thought you were a selfish brat trying to seek out your own prosperity within the good graces of the Goddesses. I know, now, you're just doing what you can to help everybody."

He chuckled, "A noble, if not somewhat naïve, goal, I'll admit. But if the rumors are true, and if your heart is in the right place, which I know it is-"

His head turned over his shoulder, "I don't know. Perhaps you truly can help everybody."

Grinning softly, Zelda shook her head, "It hasn't happened yet. Until it does, I've nothing to be proud of but a litany of screw ups, not least of them, I know now, to be the deaths of four Hylians."

"I was literally _bred_ to be a Knight, and I still had to take my licks," Link assured easily, "Nothing is offered to us, not even if destiny wills it. All you can do is get back up on that-"

He frowned as a pack of horses suddenly entered his vision, the wild animals grazing atop the opposing shore, keeping their wary eyes upon the three Champions, especially with Daruk jovially giving a warm wave amidst his still-dour complexion.

"Back on that horse," Link finished.

Zelda grinned, watching the equine company that appeared to be emulating her own, "I couldn't even get _back_ on that horse. Father insisted I only travel atop our most docile and gentle mares."

"Goddess," she sighed in exasperation, "Maybe I _am_ a brat. Come to think of it, I've never even hopped atop one myself; I've always had to be lifted."

The two men gave her a sidelong glance, imagining her young adult body being hoisted atop a steed, a pair of stares that easy caught her attention, allowing her a pithy glare of her own that shot down the other's dubious act.

"I do love horses," Daruk merrily sponge under his breath, "Reminds me of Gorons. Such big bodies on such tiny feet. Hm hmm. Makes me chuckle to see."

Link nodded in appraisal, stopping as Zelda commented, "You said the man here taught you to ride horses?"

"He taught me how to _calm_ them- big difference," Link noted, his brow suddenly curling as he glanced at the plot of land before them, "You know, speaking of destiny-"

Zelda watched him curiously as he turned his attention toward her, "Wanna learn how to ride?"

"W- What?! Right now?!" she cried in disbelief.

Daruk laughed, finally breaking from his dormant attitude, as Link shrugged coolly, "Why not? Not much else to do, is there?"

"I- I mean-" Zelda stammered before Link grasped her shoulder, directing her along gently.

"Come on. Perhaps this was how it was all planned," Link explained reverently, "That old man teaching me, only to, by extension, teach the Princess of Hyrule Kingdom as well."

Zelda quivered, "You- You make it sound so- _ornate_..?"

"Perhaps it is," Daruk chuckled as the three rounded the edge of the pond, slowing as they began earning the horses' attention.

Crouching low, Link pulled Zelda down to emulate him, speaking softly, "Now, you have to jump atop of one while roaming low like this. Think you can do it?"

Despite her earlier apprehension, Zelda had gradually worked up some courage, hoping to perform well for the man she needed to teach her swordplay, nodding with a slight jitter as she shakily replied, "Y- I think so."

"Horses are- They're not tame, but they're not wholly feral, either," Link explained, "It's not as if they'll turn tail and maul you if you fail."

Zelda's eyes narrowed, "Gee, thanks for the imagery."

A smirk met her as Link went on, "Just sneak up and hop on. It'll more than likely take off, but you've got to hold on. Don't try to dominate it. You aren't taking it as its master. You're simply two souls, coming together in teamwork. Scratch its neck, pat it; you're asking it for aid and it must reciprocate on its own."

His words had caught Zelda much as her favorite books often did when spinning her off into vastly different worlds. Her blank eyes leapt up as she nodded attentively, clearing her throat as she stepped forward from her crouched position.

"A- Alright."

She trailed off along the bank of the lake's waters, her feet scuffing along the unkempt grass as they slid, carefully across the terrain. A cold sweat formed at her neck, nerves begging to undermine her task, yet her face remained ragged, determined, ready to make her mark. Destiny had taken so much promise from her- now was the chance for her to defy that same destiny and make something of her own self.

"Uh," Daruk muttered once she was beyond earshot, "Isn't this a bit too advanced for a first lesson?"

Link rolled his eyes, "Of course. She isn't gonna make it on the horse's back; she'll hop up and hit the ground. Then, hopefully, she'll understand my tutelage is certainly not as easy as Urbosa seems to believe."

"Huh?"

Shrugging, Link relayed, "She wants to learn how to sword fight, and Urbosa won't do so, leaving me as her only match. To teach a Princess combat-"

He shook his head, "It's as if I'm admitting how worthless I am, if she requires her own aid. So, since I cannot refuse an order from her, I'll merely suggest to her subconscious that it's not worth asking me in the first place."

Daruk groaned, covering his face as it shook from side to side, "Brother, you certainly are cunning when you need to be."

"But for all the wrong reasons, huh?" Link offered.

"Indeed," sighed Daruk.

Link shrugged, "We're all better off- _She's_ better off not knowing how to swordfight. The reason we're here with her is to protect her; the last thing we need is for her to get cocky and run into a fight without a moment's thought."

His words mulled around in Daruk's head before the Goron concluded with a defeated sigh, "I suppose you've got a point. I just wish-"

Daruk paused as his eyes focused upon Zelda, her frame rising barely from the tall grass as she arose beside one of the steeds, her body coiling up to pounce. Link sighed expectantly, knowing what he was doing was underhanded, yet he couldn't shake away his duty, try as he might.

This was for the best, he told hims-

Zelda pounced like a ravenous fledgling, coursing from its nest on initial flight, arms flailing wildly as she flew upward, the horse's head whipping around in ecstatic surprise as the Hylian landed atop its back, sending the stallion into a panic.

Link's eyes widened, jaw dropped, all while Daruk leapt up to his feet, throwing his fists into the air in triumph, obliterating the air around him with a massively boisterous, "YES!"

Without a moment's breath, Link lunged forward, sprinting with a blistering speed around the lake bed as the vigorous stallion whooped and hollered, throwing its back into the air as Zelda clung on for dear life. As her body flew up, the horse's body had already contracted, bucking straight up as her torso fell, slamming hundreds of pounds of muscle straight into her core.

Daruk immediately paused in a fright as Zelda released her hold on the beast, sending the horse dashing off into the distance to find its companions that had already taken off as Zelda fell into the tall grass, Link awaiting a _thud_ that never came, disguised as it was amidst the foliage. With the zeal of a knight, he tore through the air, finally approaching where Zelda lay, immediately falling to his knees to examine her.

"P- Princess!" he shouted, his royal instruction breaking through as he grabbed her shoulder, pulling her to her back with a horrified expression.

Her face came into view, a slight tinge of blood at her forehead that was utterly dismissed by the beaming look on her face as she laughed as jovially as Daruk might have.

"BWAH HA HA!" she burst out, shaking within the bed of grass beneath her, "THAT WAS AWESOME!"

Link took a massive breath, dropping his head defeatedly as he attempted to wrangle his now-rampaging heart. He shook his head in disbelief while Zelda threw her hands up in pantomime.

"Did'ya see?! Did'ya see?! It was like BOOM! and then WHOOSH! and-!"

As she continued between bouts of intense laughter that showed her infinite happiness at that moment, Link slowly rose to his feet, covering his face with his fist, turning away from the abstract scene just as Daruk arrive.

"Is she okay?!" the Goron asked in a panic.

Link's eyes peered overtop his fist in sarcastic disdain, "I think life flashed before _my_ eyes…"

Daruk's brow contorted before turning toward Zelda, the giggling mass still content with lying in the grass becoming contagious as Daruk began to chuckle himself, even despite a wary look on his face, "W- What's so funny..?"

Wiping the tears from her face, Zelda shook her head, "Wow! That was a blast! Did you see?!"

"I did!" Daruk praised before bending down to help her up, "You were like WHOOSH! and-!"

"Oh, goddess," Link grumbled to himself, thinking how close he had come to receiving only the most exquisite tortures meant for those who harm the King's daughter, "There's two of them…"

"Link!" Zelda declared as she brushed herself off, now on her feet, "I officially demand you offer me opportunities for other activities that I've been deprived of. It's clear that I've missed _all_ of the fun in my father's pursuit of my impeccable upbringing, even if he meant to suffocate me from such joys as this."

She raised her head to bring in as big of a breath as she possibly ever had, exhaling energetically as she returned her attention to Link, who watched her in appraisal, causing her to glance at him uncertainly.

"What..?"

He crossed his arms, a heavy sigh flowing through him as he continued his staring. Daruk's lips curled from one end to the other, uncertain, himself, of what was soon to happen between these two.

"Fine," Link finally spoke up, dropping his arms as he turned to leave, "I'll teach you to use a sword."

Zelda's eyes went fiercely narrow in her skepticism, as she hadn't asked him for such a thing, yet they immediately went wide upon understanding what he'd said. She covered the shock on her mouth with the palm of her hand, breaking it free from its perch only to ask with shock.

"R- Really?!"

Link shrugged once more, repeating, "Not much else to do, is there?"

In her exaltation, Zelda spun toward Daruk, who once again fed off her energy, taking the Hylian into his arms as her elation forced her into a hug, leaving the two abnormal bodies hopping up and down in awkward tandem.

"Did he say what I think he said?!" Zelda asked in sincere uncertainty.

Daruk grinned, "I believe he did!"

The two bounded around merrily as Link sauntered along the edge of the lake to return to Robbie's peering once more toward the plot of land that had once housed the Princess. Back then, she had seemed so distasteful of a person to him, and yet, regardless of how much he came to know her, Zelda had consistently proven to be full of an ever-deepening series of surprises.

Perhaps there was even more to come. This journey hadn't exactly turned out to be an excursion of the mundane, Link considered.

"Come on!" Link shouted over his shoulder, not wishing to lose the two in the distance.

Just maybe, where Link had found his fate in the most unlikely of places, Zelda would find the same. Even if it had once been within the crawlspace of an Akkalan home.

Nothing much could surprise him, now.


	45. The Princess Without a Destiny

Link sat atop the thin incline outside Robbie's lighthouse workshop, legs splayed out before him in rest as he held the Master Sword in his hands, examining it with plain eyes, having done much the same a few times already. He would run its length atop his arm, feeling its edge against his skin, finding no defect in its form. He tilted it toward and away from himself, again finding no flaw in the pale white reflections of the moon that cast upon it, less in curiosity than in continued admiration.

He didn't flinch when the door to Robbie's workshop creaked it's way open, revealing Zelda in silhouette in front if the lights within the building for only a moment as she stepped out and closed the door behind her, all with a careful demeanor, hoping to avoid making anything resembling a scene. She took in a deep breath as she wheeled around toward Link, refraining, only barely, from hopping along as her excitement threatened to overwhelm her.

"I can't wait," she spoke up, coming into earshot of Link, "It feels like I'm sneaking out to do something bad!"

He gave a sidelong glance, "You _are_."

Thinking of her own status as Princess, Zelda grinned as she simply gave a shrug, "Oh well. Is that the Master Sword?"

Link nodded, still wobbling the serene steel along his arm while gesturing back toward the lighthouse, "Yep. Your sword is over there."

With a quickness reserved for such excitement, Zelda spun around and hustled back to find Link's knight sword, free from its sheath, now that it more resembled the Master Sword than its previous form. She carefully took its handle and lifted it to rest atop her hand as she returned to Link's side, examining its worn surface with enchantment.

"Whoooa," she mused lightly.

Link felt a bit miffed at having to speak up, instructing quickly, "It's not a toy, now."

"I know that!" Zelda childishly asserted, despite her beginning to swing her arm from side to side, examining it from different angles, "I'm just making sure it's in check."

"Urbosa was the last to true its edge, so there's no doubting that it is," Link noted before returning his attention to the Master Sword in his hand.

Zelda twisted her wrist, examining the hilt all around before dropping her hand to ask another question, only to become perplexed by Link's silence, his longing glancing down toward his own sword. Ignoring her own furor, Zelda stepped toward him curiously, even now that Link started emulating her own actions, examining the Sword atop his arm.

"You know," Link spoke up suddenly, "This sword- Mipha said something about each blacksmith leaving an autograph of sorts upon each sword they craft. For the life of me- For all the weight I feel of eons past, this sword is free from imperfection, truly."

His lips curled, "It's as though whatever divine being created it- They wanted no trace of its origin."

Zelda wondered curiously as to his meaning, having already regaled him with such things. As the preeminent, rudimentary scholar on all things Master Sword, Zelda know quite a bit of its physical history, though perhaps Link was pining for something more ethereal. Something more as to its formation.

Shrugging before dropping the sword, and the topic, Link sheathed the Sword once more as he stood up, "Ah, well. Stay careful with that thing. We'll have to make a sheath for that one that fits properly."

"I _know_ to be careful," Zelda reminded with a sneer, hiding a grin as if she knew how empty her words truly were, even within recent memory.

Link only eyed her with suspicion before simply carrying on without calling her out, "C'mon, there's a small clearing nearby. No point learning while also stumbling around on uncertain footing."

Zelda nodded as an apprentice might at the prospect of knowledge just learned, taking her strides behind him as she followed along, jumping in surprise as Link spoke up quietly, "Did everyone get settled?"

"As best as they could," Zelda admitted wryly, "Robbie isn't exactly one for being a ready host, even when he's expecting company. Daruk and Urbosa got a back room or two cleared out and then we managed to scrounge up enough stuff for a few nights, if need be. Auntie Purah always said Robbie's mind worked like flint and tender."

Link's brow curled, "What, like a spark cast into creating flames?"

Smirking in reply, Zelda giggled, "More the striking it with a blade repeatedly until randomly finding a spark."

At first, Link was perturbed to hear such a thing, hoping this leg of the journey would be quick; though, after a moment's consideration, perhaps if one of those sparks never were to come, Mipha would be saved from the dangers of Eldin, even without his intervention. His guilt at the idea of forcing her to relieve herself from the Company was insurmountable, but if it were merely by Robbie's misgivings…

"You know, I stole that little campfire anecdote-thing from you," Link mentioned with a thin, mischievous grin, "While we're on the topic of _starting_ fires."

Zelda's ears perked up, "Which anecdote…_thing_?"

"Back when we were trouncing around Lanayru, one of the shrine flames had been perpetually burning thanks to pilgrims routinely tending to it- or so the story went. You were, I guess, _taken_ by the romantic idea that the flames remained, unhindered, across the years while its fuel, the wood, the straw- everything that made it a fire continuously evaporated and in need of replacement, yet the fire remained without interruption, the same flame our ancestors witnessed."

He shrugged, "I thought of it at the campfire back at the Stable and mentioned it."

Zelda grinned with something of a meandering smile, "You're worried, aren't you?"

"Oh?" Link wondered aloud, unconvinced.

She nodded, "You always get- I don't know, melancholic? when you're worried."

"Good thing I'm rarely worried, then," Link chuckled, "No, I was just preoccupied with this Sword is all."

Zelda peered up toward him as Link turned to face her, drawing his Sword once more, twisting his arm to allow the moonlight shimmer from its ornate frame, "Like that fire at the shrine, this thing's been handed from person to person, for millennia and even beyond then. I'm merely its temporal owner at the moment, it seems; we're simply its fuel, meant to settle into embers."

"You're _really_ worried about something," Zelda frowned as she crossed her arms, careful with her sword as she did so.

Link grinned, "Perhaps I am. I don't know."

"Is it-" Zelda began, though stopped herself, once again feeling the guilt from having inadvertantly tipped off the secret to Urbosa.

"Mipha?" Link finished easily, shrugging once again, "I mean, yeah, but-"

He lied as he offered further, "I wouldn't dare stop her from whatever Robbie has planned."

"You wouldn't want to find _her_ to be embers," Zelda reasoned softly.

Link reached up to scratch his head, looking away as he warily began, "Look, let's just- Get your sword ready and we'll just begin."

Nodding, her excitement long since haven melted into a somber moon, Zelda readied her sword into a rather clunky stance, her two hands folded atop one another as they gripped the handle, leaving Link sighing with a soft grin.

"You're such a child," he teased lightly while stepping toward her, earning him a heated stare.

"Hey, it's not my fault! I've wanted to learn!"

Link stuck his tongue out as he reached out to fix her hands, "What's to learn? It's common sense. Look."

He pulled her hands apart, her dominant hand further up the handle than her other as he grabbed the blade, pulling it to and fro to gauge her grip and finding it satisfactory. Zelda watched Link's eyes darken as he did so, his mind once again lost in thought.

"You know, the Master Sword isn't anywhere near as…precise as you seem to believe it is," Zelda shrugged, "There are tales of it crossing time and space itself, so- It's not like a flame required fuel that must burn off. It's more like a flame without fuel even required. Some sources indicate that it's even crossed dimensions- That's it's been in many worlds at once."

"Ah," Link chided, "That old fairy tale of thing one happening, but thing two still happens, just in a different dimension."

"It's not a fairy tale," Zelda frowned, "There've been plenty of people, smarter than I, who've gone and-!"

Link's eyes tensed as they focused deeply into her own, "What does that idea have to say about what we're battling?"

Zelda paused, confused by his proposition. His hand fell frown her sword, leaving his shoulders slumped in weakening thought.

"If that's true, then it means evil must win, at least in some sense, somewhere, until the Goddess manages to fix it somehow," he noted plainly, his brow upturned in worry, "What if this is the time for evil to win?"

The thought rattled Zelda, even if it had been a rather esoteric question; it deserved consideration nonetheless. After all, this entire endeavor was an attempt to better Hyrule's odds once such an adversary emerged.

"I don't know," Link spoke up, shoulders slumped, "Like you said, I suppose I just get melancholy when I'm worried."

"No kidding," Zelda mustered with an aching voice , "You're beginning to make _me_ worried…"

Link grinned softly as he shook his head, "That's just been where my minds been ever since- You know-"

"Since you've begun thinking about Mipha's part in this next leg of the journey?" Zelda asked.

"I suppose. Yes," he admitted with a sigh.

Zelda watched him carefully, hoping not to take advantage of this man's current vulnerability that shone through even brighter than the moon. For all their party squabbles upon first meeting, Zelda had certainly grown to like this man, even admire him to a certain point. His grace under fire, his steady demeanor- even his unwavering calm, which now shone placid behind his shaking eyes.

"You truly love her, don't you?" Zelda asked.

Link bit his teeth, "I do. And it so frightens me, being compelled to worry so about somebody other than myself."

He brought the Master Sword up, eyes tracing the outline of its handle grasped within his hand, "All my life, I've been nothing but a sword. That's what I was born and raised to do. It's what my parents believed of me; it's what your father expects of me."

"When I'm with _her_, though-" Link's eyes tensed, "I feel like a plant in the shadows discovering sunlight. Like I've found water in an endless desert I've traveled for decades. It doesn't feel as though I've merely found something auxiliary to add to my life- It feels like something _necessary_ that I've somehow survived without."

His lips turned glibly, "Perhaps that's just what love is."

Zelda rubbed her hand along her opposite arm, having turned her stare toward the ground to avoid being rude, speaking softly enough, "I mean- Perhaps we could ask her to-"

"She won't," Link smiled, "But I suppose that's one of the things I do love about her. If I find little reason to worry about her when she's facing a league of interlopers, I should expect her to persevere in the face of this as well."

Zelda jumped as a sudden urgency leapt in Link's voice, "Come on. Enough about me. We're here for a reason."

"R- Right!" Zelda charged obediently, throwing her sword up in a haste.

Link grinned at her unrivaled childishness masquerading as a young woman, dropping his head defeatedly, "Okay, stop swinging that thing around like a rope."

"I'm not-!" Zelda pleaded before Link held up a hand, which she took for her to be silent, though Link merely explained.

"All that cliché junk you hear about using your sword as an extension of your arm- That's all true. As a soldier, and a knight, we spent excruciating months just training and familiarizing ourselves with each and every weapon. It's why everything's a standardized length; theres little guesswork."

Zelda quipped zealously, "Okay! How did you practice that?!"

"We're improvising," Link shrugged, "Just swing at my hand and-"

"LINK!"

He went on, "_Swing_ _at_ _my_ _hand_ and make me feel the wind breaking upon my skin. You'll have to get pretty close."

"But what if I hit your hand?!"

Link shrugged, "I suppose I'll bleed."

"LINK!"

"Or you'll simply take off my fingers."

Zelda's body shook with anger even beneath Link's innocent expression, "What? You wanted this, didn't you?"

"Not like _this_!" she challenge heatedly, "Teach me! Like how all you Knights train!"

Link gave a bemused chuckle, "You do realize knighthood requires, at a minimum, seven years of duty as a soldier, right?"

Her lips trembling with frustration at being forced to begin at 'zero', Zelda grumbled to herself as her emotions came to a halt, shaking her head as she lifted her sword, clenched within both hands.

"Fine. Have it your way," she groaned before bringing the weapon over her shoulder, "At least I have renewed reason to aim at your hand…"

Link smirked, "Hey, it's the Zelda I once knew."

With clenched teeth, Zelda swung the middle-sized sword out before her, a vengeful fury driving her beyond reason as her momentum suddenly carried her along with the sword's trajectory, all but missing Link while sailing her off toward the side as her footing left her stumbling along, just about to face-plant before catching herself, narrowly avoiding shoving her hand atop the sword itself. He dropped to a knee as she took in the harrowing moment in stride, her breaths wringing from her lungs like water from cloth, nearly draped in panic.

"That's why you start with the basics," Link explained as he leaned aside to offer her a hand, "Look-"

His hand unreciprocated, Link simply grabbed Zelda's shoulder and pulled her up to her feet, "-I'm not your father. How far along would he have allowed this after what you just pulled?"

Zelda frowned, averting her eyes, "I wouldn't have handled the sword…"

"Exactly. Now, if I'm going to train you, one- I'm not going to go easy on you. Just because Urbosa seems to think I'm willing to feign fragility doesn't mean it's so. Two, you're going to learn the _right_ way. These swords are tools to defend and protect, yes, but they're still weapons. They can hurt you just as much as they hurt others."

He sighed as he stepped away, readying his open hand once more, "That's one of the things the knights have over rank and file soldiers. One of our first measures as such involved being slashed, all along our arms and legs, until we're utterly unfazed by being struck and by having blood drawn. If you want to know more-"

He waved his hand measly, "Then break the wind against my hand."

Zelda sighed, but did as she was told. Instead of using two hands, she withdrew to one, raising her arm to where the sword sat just before Link's hand as if in measurement before shuffling backward, working it to where, fully extended, she couldn't possibly hit him. She pulled her arm back and swung, leaving Link only the slightest movement to draw his body forward, just enough, so that, as the sword flew through the air, he snapped his hand backward over her shoulder, clenching it shut as Zelda's swing came to an end.

She watched with confusion at Link's movement until he pulled his hand forward once again, a line of blood running along his palm as Zelda's eyes flew wide in terror.

"Link!" she cried, lunging toward him to aid him, yet he only stepped away, using his other hand to keep her rush at bay.

"You're not going to cheat," noted Link sternly, "Or do you think a _target_ will just let you ready yourself in that fashion?"

Tears welled up in Zelda's eyes at the very sight of blood having been drawn by her own hand, though Link's steady voice, which she so admired, brought her to calm all the same, allowing her tears to slowly drain as she ran her wrist along her face.

"I hope you weren't expecting this to be fun," Link muttered drolly, much to Zelda's distaste.

"No!" she shouted before quickly reeling in her tone, "But I wasn't expecting _blood_, either."

Link shrugged, "Then come to know that sword as though it were your own arm."

His bloodied hand returned, open-faced, as Zelda eyed him with tumultuous preparedness, taking up her sword once again, ready to swing, this time without measurement. Her red, tear-stroked eyes glared into Link's hand, as though into infinity, as focus rushed through her. Finally, she swung, leaving Link to pull away at just the last moment, avoiding the strike.

"Again," he ordered, "Don't pull back with your wrist. Your sword can do nothing, but your arm can recoil if need be."

Zelda readied herself, her breaths running ragged as tire rose from both her activity as well as her emotions. She swung again, leaving Link, again, to recoil himself.

"Again."

Short.

"I didn't feel the wind breaking."

Zelda dropped her shoulders, "How do you even know what that feels li-!"

Her entire body tensed as Link's arm made like a serpent, throwing the Master Sword like a firework toward her face, snapping it back just a hair's breadth away from her skin, leaving the snap of atmosphere blistered across her forehead, the singular motion having taken but a moment to record.

Zelda's jaw dropped as Link returned the Sword to its sheath, bringing up his open palm once again, "It's a bit like that."

Instinctively so, Zelda hurriedly reached up to run her fingers across her face in utter astonishment to find not a drop of blood upon her, despite the Sword seemingly being thrust beyond her interior peripheral vision.

"Again," Link repeated.

Now awash with terror, frustration, all balled atop of tearful reverie, Zelda bit her lip in focus, attempting to keep everything within her at bay. She wanted nothing more than to succeed- to prove to this stubborn man that she was worth all the training he had immediately deigned her too unfit for. Her entire life had been spent under the thumb of her father telling her what all she couldn't.

And Link certainly wasn't going to tell her the same.

She draw her teeth in anger as she swung the sword in front of her, locking her elbow only until the briefest moment to ready herself for Link's hand jarring ever closer, tensing up her entire body as her shoulder draw toward her, bringing the blade just before Link's palm. Her arm slammed against her stomach, as she failed to adequately pause its stride, falling to her knees as exhaustion settled in, her head dropping as her lungs burned like dragon's breath.

"If you say 'again' one more time, we're switching to a more deadly target," Zelda managed breathlessly.

Link could only smirk, "You did good. I didn't feel the wind lapping at my skin, but-"

He knelt down, presenting his palm low so she could see it while hunched over, Zelda's brow furrowing at the view of encrusted blood running along Link's palm, finding a single trail cut along the lines of brown crud, left only by the proximity of her strike.

"It's about as close as you can get without some whiplash, though," Link admitted coolly.

Now perturbed by her inability to relish in the victory, given her exhaustion, Zelda simply nodded in acknowledgement as Link returned to his feet, grabbing a canteen from his belt and offering it to Zelda, who took it readily, allowing Link to tend to his hand. The air surrounding the two remained quiet, accompanied only by Zelda's panting breaths and sounds of her gulping down entire mouthfuls of water before even that gradually ceased, leaving them with the gentle sounds of bandages been applied.

His eyes narrowed in focus as he spoke up, "That knight thing. Where we get struck until we're no longer adverse to pain. The kingdom has specialists in the army, called 'letters by the men- all they do is administer these lashes. That's how precise they are."

"You have to cut deep enough to administer a painful response, but _too_ deep, you damage the nerve endings, and your knight won't be able to feel anything," Link explained further, cutting free the loose end of his bandage before tucking its frayed end into a deeper wrap of fabric, "It took most of the class a week or two. I was still getting licks a month in. Said my hide was thick and prone to stubbornness."

Zelda eyed him, "You think?"

Only smirking at her snarky response, Link crossed his arms before finishing, "That's lesson one. Whenever you have the chance- and _do_ practice some subtlety- I don't need the others finding me in dereliction of duty."

Sighing with a mix of satisfaction and exhaustion of his own, Link began to ready himself to leave, throwing the Master Sword over his shoulder before returning to Zelda, finding her still in a heap on the ground. He leaned down, again to offer his hand, though, again, it was unreceived.

"Come on. Good thing you already readied the sleeping arrangements. You'll probably-"

"Cut me."

Link's eyes narrowed with confusion, "What?"

"Like you. Your knights," wavered Zelda's voice, echoing with reproach.

Returning to his upright posture, unsure of what to answer with, Link allowed the air to stagnate, leaving Zelda to speak up in a sorrowful timbre, "I tried. like I've never tried before. to heal your hand. And my body- My body just refuses to-"

"That's what this is all about," Link sighed to himself, dropping his head toward his chest as he ran a hand along his neck.

Zelda went on amidst a tenor of tears, "All I want to do is help, but- My body won't do what it's supposed to. I can't go out- I can't learn- I'm relegated to my books, all of which tell me _nothing_, and when I see my friends in danger, I- The one thing I should be able to do, I can't…"

His eyes shut in exasperation, Link muttered, "What is it you're wanting?"

"Force it out of me," she whimpered, "Strike me, stab me- Just do whatever you need to do to- to- to make my body wor-! to make my destiny a-…"

Link could only glance at the shivering body still huddled on the ground as Zelda wept, shaking her head in defeat, his silence indicative of his inaction. With a resolve of either frustration of mere anger, Zelda forced herself up to her feet, wiping the tears from her face, leaving only the tinge of redness covering her eyes. She stared at Link with determination, ready to accept this trial of her own design.

"Do it!" she shouted, "If it doesn't work-! At least I can be a soldier! I can at least- contribute _something_ to this campaign!"

"Zelda…"

"I'm not going to walk through death's door as a helpless sheep! and I won't allow you all to- to carry me through it!"

"Zelda."

"I can't do it myself!" she wailed, "I've tried, and-! It- It just-!"

Her overwhelming emotions overpowering her words, tears returned to her face as she thought of those lonesome nights in the library, with nary a soul to comfort her, as she worked whatever painful malady against her skin that might elicit a response, leaving her body as little more than a walking experiment to discover some ethereal whim, some destiny, that she hadn't ever been privy to.

"Do it!" she shouted, angry teeth biting through flown-about tears.

"Zelda!" Link replied with a roar of his own.

She fired back ferociously, "Do it! I order you as Princess of-!"

With a whip of ozone tearing against her skin like a whispering breath taking her, a sharp pain flared out just below Zelda's shoulder as her eyes jolted downward, finding her skin, already soiled by dirt, treading blood as a light seam of flesh appeared to her torn apart by Link's hand. Her hand quickly ejected itself across her body, covering the wound as her lips tightened in on one another, pulling into her mouth as painfully as she could to numb herself as she stared at Link, tears pooling like roaring tides ready to burst through a dam as a series of anguished whimpers escaped her despite her best efforts toward concealing the pain that overwhelmed her.

She collapsed to her knees as her lips broke open for just a brief moment, letting out a bloodcurdling, heart-tearing cry as her entire body winced, leaving Link charging toward her, falling to a knee before her as he took her into his arms, pulling her close against his chest as her cries continued, now muffled by his shoulder.

"Gah haaaa…" she whimpered lowly to herself, pressing her face as hard as she could into Link before letting loose a rallying cry of frustration that melted into agony, "WAAAAAAAHAhahaaahaaa…"

Link could only eye the soil behind her as he tightened his hold on her, presuming the worst- that, even now, she had attempted to null her own pain, to no avail.

He could imagine, oh so well, the pain coursing through her body at the moment. What he hadn't the ability to understand, however, was the turbulent emotions running rampant throughout her heart and soul at, once again, being greeted with failure when it came to her destiny. He knew well of its effects, seeing it even now, yet couldn't comprehend the infinite struggle faced by this young woman simply trying to find her place, not only in this world, but within her father's eyes.

As Zelda's misery began to weaken into more piddling gasps of breath and whimpers, Link began stroking her back, unsure of what else to do, until that seemed to adequately comfort her somewhat, leaving him more available to speak up, which he did with a low tone.

"Hey," he muttered, "You've got this."

He felt her head shake in denial against his shoulder.

"Oh, hush," Link retorted with a chuckle that reverberated through her torso, "You know why I agreed to this training thing in the first place?"

A pause. Slowly, however, a shake of her head.

Link slowly appraised his own grin before speaking up, "Because, when I first met you, I thought you were a spoiled brat."

For somewhere unseen, he felt Zelda's hand smack against his side with a banal pat, leaving him to chuckle once more.

"But I know now. or, rather, I've known for some time," he went on warmly, "You've been fighting your own battles all these years. You may not be a knight, or a Champion in your own right- but you've fought, and you've made it this far. Now I see you're only a little bit of a brat."

Another meager smack.

"Come on," Link offered, patting her back as he pressed to move to his feed, silently giving Zelda the directive to do the same, "You got wrangled off that horse and got back up, didn't you?"

Her body only weakly followed along, but left Link with another lesson to offer, "Like a told Zevan. A knight gets knocked down five times, they get up six. Here's your second trail."

With a weakened resolved, a boorish breath left Zelda as she worked her way back up to her feet, her lack of subscription more due to how embarrassed she had now become. She kept her head low as Link pulled away, rushing to cover her eyes with her arms to wipe away the tears.

"Look," Link spoke up calmly, "You're not going to find anything by doing this. You can't just-"

"You said it yourself," Zelda interjected with a dry voice, her words trailing off like a boat across the horizon, "What if we're doomed to failure? What if I fail? what if-? What if I can't do this?"

Link watched her with deepening resolve, his eyes narrowing before he reached up, softly pressing a fist into her shoulder.

"Maybe you can't. Who knows."

Her head fell.

"However," Link assured, reaching over to tenderly take her chin to raise her eyes back to meet his own, "You've got five people willing to leave their lives on the line to make sure you don't ever find that out."

A rather stilted sentiment, but still one that left a choked up grin on Zelda's face as she turned her eyes, embarrassed to be seen as she was, "I- suppose."

"I know," Link nodded, "Maybe not Revali, but he's coming along. I only find him mildly insufferable these days."

"Oh, hush," Zelda repeated his words with a timid smack of her own.

Link smirked boyishly at being admonished for a rather heartfelt collection of words before pulling out his roll of bandages once again, ready to mend the blemish upon Zelda's arm, hoping nobody would notice or call attention to it. He delicately worked his way around her, leaving Zelda to simply remain there, silently recovering from her overwashing emotions from the past few moments, watching the knight work diligently in his careful manner.

"Thanks," she muttered, "for this."

He shrugged, "It's the unit's supply; your father's taxes paid for this, not m-"

"Not the bandage, you ass," Zelda charged with a swift kick against Link's leg, leaving him chuckling like a boy with his hand in the cookie jar.

"For the lesson," she confirmed, "Thanks."

He merely shrugged, "It's nothing."

"I know it is," Zelda fired back in retort, albeit with a certain echo in her voice, "It's why you were so adverse to doing it before. That Hylian pride and all."

Link's brow raised with inquiry, "My last two major assignments have found me scampering across the whole of Hyrule with reckless abandon."

He smirked, "Perhaps I should better understand my worth and lower my expectations accordingly."

"So you're blaming me?" Zelda shot back with a wryness in her voice.

Link tilted his head to the side, "Nah. I agreed because you're making an effort. I should be willing to as well."

Her lips curled in subtle glee as Zelda relished those words that put the two of them on somewhat equal footing. It sent her back to those days where she was so ensconced with jealousy, seeing Link as this pinnacle she never could aspire to. Never once, back then, could she have imagined allowing him to witness her as she was now.

"Perhaps…once upon a time, I saw you as merely a sword," Zelda admitted dryly, "But- I don't now. Not anymore."

Link's eyes wandered pithily up toward her, glibly remarking, "I just went at you like a lizalfos with that sword, you know."

"Yeah, just a little!" Zelda scolded with feigned upset, grinning sincerely as she returned to her point, "Just- You're not a sword. You're a friend."

Link nodded, "Well, thank you. Coming from a member of royalty, that means a lot."

He went silent as he returned his focus solely to dressing her wound, leaving Zelda with a crooked face as she cleared her throat, "Ahem?"

Link glanced her way, "What now?"

"Don't you have something to say in reply?"

His eyes wandered away in thought for a moment, leaving Zelda to correct him, "Aren't I a friend to you?!"

Link's eyes narrowing in deepening thought, he surmised easily, "I think you're more of a student at this point in time, grasshop-"

"Shut up!" she begged with another more-forceful swipe which left Link with another chuckle.

"Fine, fine," he nodded, "I see you as a friend as well. Just-"

"Ah!" Zelda shouted to interrupt him, waving him off, "All I needed to here. Don't even."

Link grinned as he continued his work, allowing Zelda a moment to watch him with sincerity in her eyes, thinking of how rare this playful side of him was. Maybe it was her barring her own emotions that opened him up, or perhaps their friendship had levied something of mirth to his interactions with her.

Whatever it was, her heart felt a bit lighter having gotten everything out, leaving it with one final weight upon it.

"Urbosa knows," she spoke up quietly.

Link's eyes jumped toward her, "Knows what?"

Biting her lip, she completed, "About you…and Mipha."

His eyes remained stagnant, leaving Zelda to explain, "She saw you coming out of Mipha's room back at the stable, and-"

"Wait, when she gave me a nod like she was some log roller on the rotunda?" he wondered, "That was _my_ room."

Zelda frowned, "Well she _thinks_ it was her room. She said you two were- That is, uh-"

"Just clarify it, then."

"I can't!" Zelda replied, "Then she'll know that you know that she knows!"

Link's eyes grew focused as he realized what Zelda was unintentionally getting at, stroking his chin as he bit his lip, "Ah, I see."

"See _what_, exactly..?" Zelda asked warily.

Shaking his head as he tore off the bandage, tucking it beneath the dressing, Link only replied, "Nothing. Just- Well, it might be an eventful time while we're staying here…"

Despite the added weight of guilt having been lifted, now a pang of fear settled into the pit of Zelda's stomach.


	46. Unorthodox Conundrum

The workshop lighthouse was abuzz with activity, with Robbie working clear into the night, his mechanical prowess forcing whizzes and buzzes in violently torn sounds through the air, forcing Urbosa and Daruk to shout over the noise to hear themselves. Revali was nowhere to be found, perhaps due to the noise, having retired to his room, as had Mipha, no doubt tiresome of the day-long inquiries and bustling movements no doubt required for Robbie's brand of research. In her place stood a bronze, mechanical statue of a thing, coiled around by blue ridges, indicative of the same designs that made up the Guardians that lined the Hylian landscape.

Link's eyes narrowed as he glanced upon the bulky suit, locking eyes with the helmet from which a glass visor poked put, the only section of the suit that had ties to the outside world. He pondered Mipha standing inside of it, before an aching pain shot through his heart, thinking of this ramshackle device not being enough to keep her alive.

He came to as Zelda followed him inside, turned aside as she was to hide her bandage, leaving her to question quietly, "What about my arm?"

"It's not even noticeable," Link whispered in reply, "Just act normal."

Zelda nodded, taking a step out from behind Link, jumping up in shock as Urbosa's voice rang out above Robbie's mess of sound, "What's with your arm?!"

Her eyes went wide in shock, though Link had already prepared a countermeasure, raising his hand to show his own bandage, "Her sword got away from her. At least she got a good lick in on me as well."

Urbosa shone a wily grin, grabbing the table as she leaned forward, about to pounce toward Zelda as she gabbed, "Well there you go! I was worried Link might've had the audacity to cut you up, but- In this case, it's only a lesson."

Zelda's eyes turned to Link, who only shrugged, used to the Gerudo's double standard when it came to Zelda by now, before he strode on deeper into the workshop, falling into a wooden chair to rest, now that the two of them had returned to whatever safety could be found within arm's reach of Robbie.

"Ah!" came the shrill, excitable voice of Robbie as he quickly threw his helmet from his head, tapping his foot in thought, though he quickly threw a scrupulous backhand to his face as if to conceal his words, "May I see you for a moment?"

Zelda watched him with surprise for a moment before peering toward the others for assurance before stepping forward, leaving Robbie to curl back toward the mechanical suit that more resembled a Guardian in Hylian form than anything else. The doctor curved a finger across his lips as he pushed a fist to his chin, examining the mechanism with skeptical eyes.

"The fruits of a day's work," he began with a flat sigh, "Sadly, there is little to show for it, Princess."

He reached a hand out in gesture, "I can manage it to withstand temperatures of up to seven hundred degrees, but that's only the lower tip of what might be the heat atop Eldin. The variance is immense, and I would hope to craft a suit able to withstand even the higher end, yet-"

Robbie frowned, "Even Guardians aren't known to reside so far up the mountain."

Crossing her arms in thought, Zelda spoke up, "Well, I mean, if it's impossible-"

"_Nothing_ is impossible!" Robbie cried suddenly, catching the attention of the others across the room.

He peered over his shoulder toward them for a brief moment before returning to Zelda with a meandering voice, "I simply lack the understanding to solve this problem. That, or I'm looking at it the wrong way. Perhaps there's an angle I'm missing."

As the two of them conversed, Urbosa and Daruk returned their attention to one another, the Gerudo returning to her previous activity of spinning a metallic ring atop the table while eying Link suspiciously.

"So, elephant in the room," Urbosa spoke up, "We getting dinner?"

Daruk's mouth began to water as if on demand from some nebulous reality not his own, "Ah! An intriguing proposition indeed! You know, I- Uh…"

He had spun around in his chair to glance at Link himself, only catching the Hylian slumped low in his own seat, head fallen back against its arching backside with eyes closed, leaving the Goron disheartened, both by Link's state as well as the Goron's lack of culinary prowess.

A single eye opened as Link returned a stare of his own, "You could pull that stunt before, but I'm a Champion myself now. We share the labor now."

Daruk's face fell, "B- But-!"

"Surely you jest," Urbosa boldly replied, her voice a grandiose tone, "We've had, what, exactly two meals during this trip _not_ prepared by you. I thought you enjoyed doing so."

He shook his head, "Regardless, I'm tired. It will have to be thrice after tonight."

"_Tired_," Urbosa nodded glibly, "Too tired for our incessant barking when we try and make stuff ourselves?"

Link remained still within his chair, the air surrounding them growing into still silence before Link to groan aloud in hearty distaste, grumbling obscenities as he worked his way to his feet, shaking his head while rubbing the tire from his face.

"Me and my…" he started with a strangling voice before starting toward the unassuming kitchenette Robbie had constructed atop the lighthouse's fireplace, which essentially was merely a cast iron plate, heated by the flames.

Urbosa and Daruk excitedly plodded along, the Goron immediately beginning to sweeten the deal, not only to whet his appetite, but to better encourage Link in the task, "We already did some rummaging! The ingredients brought here- the selection is vast!"

"Robbie gave us the okay," Urbosa explained with an equally whet palate, "So long as he gets a share, we're free to his cupboards."

Link frowned, "I only make soups, you know."

"Then make a soup! Just add a bunch of foreign ingredients! I'm done with routine!" Daruk exclaimed boisterously, his mind awash.

"Just- hush and let me think," Link sighed as he knelt down, swinging open the doors to Robbie's miniature cabinet, eyeing what ingredients were there to behold.

His eyes ran down the ingredients, knowing he had lied simply to keep this task simple. Now viewing the full magnificence of Robbie's Sheikah stock, an ill excitement met the front of Link's mind, now wishing to excitement, though thought better of offering more talent than he was willing for Urbosa to know in the future. He carefully began selecting ingredients, handing the bottles of spices and foodstuffs to Daruk to quickly line up atop a nearby table, though Link's slowly withered toward that memory of Mipha offering up her people's food for him. Now, perhaps, could be a chance to do the same for _her_.

He groaned, "The hell with it… Urbosa, go out and catch us a chicke-"

"Yes!" she shouted enthusiastically, rounding the cluttered maze of Sheikan equipment, "So more than soup?!"

"I suppose," Link frowned, returning to the cupboard as Urbosa flew out thr door, leaving behind only the massive THWAP of the door slamming shut.

Startled themselves by the commotion, Zelda and Robbie shifted further from the others to return to their own conversation, with Robbie twiddling his fingers carelessly, muttering, "-and you intend, simply, to study them?"

"Yes," Zelda acknowledged easily with a nod, "We've gathered rather extensive notes, as a matter of fact."

Robbie thrust his head upward in scholarly fastidiousness, "Ahh. Surely, I must see them!"

With a smile of brilliance, indicative of her excitement over displaying the Company's notes to an actual researcher, Zelda buried her hands into her bag, having long since taken Link's notebook as her own, "You know, I'm kind of thrilled to be speaking scholar-to-scholar for once."

"Well, I-" Robbie paused, tactfully rerouting his words, "There are others who have studied those Beasts. I believe I have a few books on the topic, but- The Divine Beasts were always beyond my range of intrigue, to be sure. That said, I would not doubt they share much in common-"

He straddled a thin framed pair of glasses along his face, rocking its bridge atop his nose and wiggling it until it became satisfactory, "-Guardians simply seem to be far more able to be understood and cross-engineered. Now, let's see here…"

His eyes jutted left to right as he took Zelda's notebook, studiously opened up to the notes Link had recited, lost, and then returned from memory before further recording their notes of Vah Ruta, before the doctor visibly began to tense up, unable to hide his brow from digging forward in confused contemplation.

Zelda's stomach fell in time with her lips, "W- What's wrong?"

"Well, I mean-" Robbie paused, miffed at such a critical reply being lobbed toward the Princess, before muttering, "You postulate that the Divine Beasts are somehow sentient?"

Zelda'a head tilted to the side, "Oh, that? That was just a legend that- Link must have notated that in passing. No, that's just a throwaway line."

A scrutinizing glance passed atop of Zelda as Robbie's eyes studied her, shrugging as he relieved her with a nod, "I see. That might be for the best. I've studied Guardians for a century now; allow me the honor of summarizing those Sheikan machines in a simple expression: you can condense them down to little more than scraps of metal. The Divine Beasts are no different. While they carry that name, Divine, they are still, yet, machines."

His eyes studied her face cryptically, "It is not my place to question your goals in this journey, but I would recommend not following that particular line of thought. At best, it's a waste of time. At worst, you're ascribing things that shouldn't be."

As though in offering, Robbie still gave a sudden, "The rest is interesting. The idea of a power source, much like the key lines between shrines- While not my line of expertise, it is intriguing nonetheless."

Zelda took in a deep breath, "I understand. I just-"

The door slammed open, revealing the unending darkness of night until Urbosa stepped through to cover the entire frame of the door, an already dressed chicken hanging from her hand as she smirked with primal expectation, roaring cheerfully, "Here it is! What's the menu!"

Having already assembled much of what already had been planned in his mind, Link simply shook his head while collecting some vegetables Daruk had dutifully chopped up, having needing to pause a moment to prevent his droll from reaching the ingredients.

"Just leave it here and- Daruk!"

Link snapped a hand to grab the carrot from Daruk's grasp, leaving the Goron dismayed with a whine, "C'mon! I'm hungry!"

"Look at yourself," Link mutter drolly, still agitated by the wolves of prey lingering above him.

Frowning at his rock-solid frame, Daruk merely shrugged, "I can still be hungry."

"And persistent," Link sighed.

Urbosa mused, piling in close to Daruk as the two feverishly followed Link to the cast iron slab over the fireplace before he could skilfully begin to wrap a few cutlets of chicken around the light sauce he had prepared along with a few other colorful vittles, essentially creating a simply-done wrap that would be rolled further into cabbage once cooked.

"It's not even anything high-class. It's just the same, quick stuff that's a staple of Hylian knights," Link shrugged, "It's fast to whip up, and in between shifts, time is a precious commodity."

"Downplay it all you'd like," Urbosa chided with her nose aflutter, "It smells amazing!"

Link shrugged, relieving himself of the compliment, thinking only of this meal as a repayment to Mipha for her own cuisine. This assemblage of ingredients was, at its base, true to his word; a basic preparation that knights of his class would prepare for its swiftness to cook. That said, what he had long grown accustomed to was little more than some protein and, maybe, one other ingredient. For Mipha, despite knowing she would have loved sharing with him something identical to his usual meals, he understood that she required something far more resembling of the brightness she had since brought to his life, much in the same vein as his life as a knight had only been expanded by her inclusion.

As such, he had carefully added a plethora of ingredients, hoping to better round it out, stuffing the chicken cutlets with green sauce, seasoned with herbs, surrounded by carrots and onions; something he only hoped would bring the woman he loved so much joy.

Laying out the chicken across the scalding griddle, Link left a small chunk of butter along the ends of the cutlets before rolling them up and concealing them beneath leaves of cabbage as Urbosa and Daruk's eyes glistened.

"Ooooh," Daruk mouthed in whisper, words all but having failed him.

Urbosa nodded, "'Oooh' is right."

"I don't really need the commentary," Link frowned as he focused on rolling up the cutlets.

With a quick wit, Urbosa charged, "We're not simply babbling along. We're studying. You complained so vehemently about us never cooking anything; we're just watching and learning to better help you later on!"

"If only I could believe that," Link replied with a critiquing glance.

Urbosa shot him daggers with her eyes, "You don't? Alright, then. Explain how you're going about this, and in a week's time, we'll replicate it. Won't we, Daruk?"

"Do _what_?!" the Goron exclaimed, "I-! I've just been sniffing!"

Link's lips curled mischievously, having found the weak link in Urbosa's excuse.

"Alright, _I'll_ replicate it," Urbosa sighed.

Rolling his head along his shoulders, Link explained, "Fine. You just mix those herbs, add vinegar, mortar and pestle them into a fine vinaigrette, chop everything else, cut up the chicken, roll it up with a piece of butter- the chicken cooks while also allowing the butter to melt without scalding into a charred mess- and then cabbage roll everything up. Boom, completed."

Link quickly smacked a waiting paw from Daruk out of the air, "And make sure the chicken is cooked, otherwise you'll get sick."

Daruk frowned, "Pah! A Goron never gets ill!"

"You _just_ got sick a week ago," Urbosa suddenly charged with conviction, "And we _still_ don't know what did it."

His eyes shifting, Link furthered, "Well, we're gonna find out pretty quick if he can't keep his mitts to himself."

"I can't help if I'm freed from the same restraint as the two of you! In fact, that hot plate seems a mighty fine place for a nap!" Daruk critiqued hopefully.

Urbosa glared at him, "That literally has _nothing_ to do with anything going on! We're supposed to be begging for a sample!"

"Ha!" Link suddenly spoke up with a rousing voice, betraying his earlier aloofness, "So you admit it!"

Crossing her arms, Urbosa took a forceful step back, her voice escaping in a haughty breath, "I can study and pine for things at the same time."

"Then could you study _over_ _there_ and leave me be?"

She frowned, "I'm the Chieftan of the Gerudo people; I'll study where I please, thank you."

"And I'm literally the farthest thing possible from one of your subjects," Link challenged, pushing his body back against Urbosa's encroaching frame, "So just-"

"Daruk!" Urbosa roused authoritatively, "Don't-!"

"He's _also_ not-!"

"Daruk!"

The Goron merely took the opportunity to reach for the griddle pan, his fingers wiggling expectantly as Link suddenly allowed Urbosa ground if only to stop Daruk in his tracks, shouting, "Daruk!"

"What?!" Daruk pleaded, "I was simply making sure the iron was still hot!"

Link grit his teeth as Urbosa began reaching for a sampling of her own, "You two, just-!"

"I GOT IT!"

The three of them immediately jumped in surprise by the shrieking voice of Robbie, which all but pierced their ears by virtue of how shrill it was. Zelda was also perturbed by the sudden explosion of expression, though she quickly recovered as she grew interested in Robbie's movement, the small mechanic rushing to his suit with a renewed vigor after his mind as whirred back up to full speed.

"W- What is it?" Zelda wondered, her eyes cheating a glance up toward Link, who was also watching warily from the fireplace, missing Daruk's stealing of one of the cutlet rolls.

Robbie's voice shook in a feverish, high-strung movement as his arms zipped around excitedly, "That-! I-! I had it all wrong!"

He kicked free some of the tubing from the suit before stripping a panel from its frame, "Look, I-! I told you! We simply needed a new angle! I was so immensely preoccupied by the idea of the suit itself withstanding the heat of a volcano!"

Link's brow curved low.

"I was looking at it as if the suit needed to fully withstand the heat, but-! That's simply too high a mountain, so to speak, to overcome," Robbie explained with a heated pace, still restructuring the suit, "What if the suit works in tune with the heat and the Zora within it?"

"Pardon?" Zelda asked, her confusion growing insurmountable by the second.

"He said it!" Robbie explained without much direction, his head now buried within a compartment of the machine, his voice now echoing out from within it, "That intoxicating meal I can't stop admiring with my nasal cavity! What did he say- he surrounds something with something else to cook it without burning. What if, instead of treating the heat as an obstacle, this suit actually attracts the heat, before diffusing it with a Zora's natural biomechanics?"

Zelda poked her chin with a finger, deepening in thought, "I mean- I suppose?"

"Well, she isn't _living_ up there, correct?" Robbie reasoned, "For a single trip, certainly, it can work!"

Link's lips curled in downtrodden realization.

The Sheikah engineer nodded as he emerged from the suit, "Allow me just tonight to make the proper modifications! Tomorrow, I will make the Royal Family proud!"

Zelda replied with untampered resolve, still uncertain as to Robbie's ideas, as well as Link's thoughts on the matter, much less Mipha's, though to simply leave the man to his work, she managed with a short, "…okay."

The amount of servings still dwindling due to Daruk's hand, Link cautiously returned his attention to their dinner, now too clouded to withstand the interloper's assault. He merely kept his attention on a single cutlet, saved for Mipha, knowing he wouldn't be hungry tonight, now that his mind was so rattled by the good doctor's progress.

* * *

Mipha stirred from her lengthy pose atop of the cot Zelda had prepared earlier in the night for her, her head peering toward the closet door as its handle began to noisily break the air with its turning. To her relief, Link emerged, only with difficulty as he shoved the door along its natural ajared path, its wooden shape halted by the endless amount of mechanical parts and trinkets Zelda had simply shifted to the side to better make room for the cot, though he managed his way inside, shutting the door behind him with a grumbling sigh, standing with his back turned toward Mipha for a moment as he dropped his head.

"Hey," Mipha managed through sleepy eyes, pushing herself to a seated position, "Sorry, I was tired. Robbie ran me ragged, literally; and that suit's not exactly light. I was just gonna rest my-"

Link turned toward her with a gradual swiftness, her eyes lighting up at the clothen surface cupped in his hand, adorned with his culinary creation, his happiness subdued only by Mipha's eyes focusing on the wrapped up dish instead of his darkened eyes.

"Wow! Is that dinner?" she wondered expectantly.

Nodding, Link answered as he approached her, "Sure is. I figured we'd had enough soup, so-"

"It looks magnificent!" Mipha exclaimed with sincere excitement, "Did you make it?"

Link sat beside her, allowing her a better vantage point as she went on without awaiting an answer, "Wow, it looks so good! It's just a little bulb of cabbage! I almost don't want to eat it!"

"Leaving a plate untouched is the biggest insult, you know," Link managed with a smile, earning him a giggle from Mipha as she reached for the small piece of food.

Her eyes alight with mystery, Mipha took the wrap and held it in her hand, carefully pulling away at the green covering, almost like gift wrap, as a plume of steam greeted her, leaving her to speak up, "Oh, it smells great! I must admit, I'm not all that accustomed to Hylian food, so…"

"I suppose this might be a decent introduction, then," Link nodded, "The meat is chicken, and that's just about a staple for Hylians. I don't think it'll be all that much like fish, but hopefully it's not bad."

Mipha poked at the interior of the cabbage, exploring the food rather than simply tasting it, until noticing Link's curious glance, her voice emerging embarrassed, "S- Sorry."

"There's nothing to apologize for," he assured with a grin, "Just do as you do."

Mipha's eyes wide with self-consciousness, despite her continued curiosity, she paused her exploration, simply reaching for a piece of chicken, covered by the seasonings and the sauce Link had crafted, her silent contemplation leaving Link to explain, "It's kind of a fancy version of something we knights frequently eat. Figured you might like to experience it."

Her lips curled into a soft smile before she could nod with withheld excitement, replying, "Ab- Absolutely! I was already quite curious, but- knowing it's something you usually eat, I-"

She cautiously pulled the cutlet toward her mouth, carefully taking a bite from it before dropping the hot piece of chicken back onto the towel in her hand, her chewing quickening as she desperately bounced the portion back and forth to keep it from scorching her mouth.

"Sorry; I guess I should have mentioned that it was still hot," Link grinned at the dainty sort of dance her head began partaking in as she worked the bite down, shaking her head at his suggestion.

"N- No! It was fine!" Mipha assured, though her words were betrayed by her immediately clearing her throat.

Link asked, "Well, besides the heat, how'd you like it?"

"It was good!" responded Mipha vigorously, "I liked how, uh- The taste was- …good?"

Smirking, Link teased lightly, "I wasn't expecting an expose or anything on the subject."

"I know, but-" Mipha explained, "You made it. I wanted to appreciate it, I suppose."

Link shrugged, "I mean, you not spitting it out in disgust was compliment enough."

"Well, I know you're good at cooking, so I knew that wasn't going to happen, anyway," Mipha replied, sticking her tongue out at him before reaching for another bite, "It's really good, though."

Link nodded with silent care, turning his eyes to the floor so as to allow her a chance to eat without a pair of persistent eyes upon her. He twiddled his fingers, unable to retain a gentle smile at how carefully she was chewing, as it she were still attempting to form some astute opinion of the flavors he had offered, though his heart was still downtrodden with the thought of Robbie's newest discovery.

"I, uh-" Link began, his breath wavering in thoughts, "Robbie, I guess, was sort of lost in his research."

Mipha nodded, a twinge of sadness following her as she did so, "That's what he mentioned before I left to rest…"

"Well," Link began, knowing he couldn't escape from an explanation that everybody but she and Revali were strangers to, "He had something of a breakthrough, I suppose, so-"

Mipha dropped her hands to her knees as she turned toward Link, examining his slumped frame with disheartened eyes, despite her own marginal smile at the news, "I mean, that's not a sure thing, is it?"

"It could be," he acknowledged weakly, rubbing his hands together, "You know- You're the strongest person I know. Maybe not the strongest, physically, but- I mean, Urbosa and Daruk, they would probably- Look, what I'm trying to say is-"

He raised himself up, taking a sharp breath before running his hands over his face, turning to watch Mipha's face, "I put a sword in that girl's hand out there. I've done my share of stupid things in my life, much less on this trip- that stunt with Revali in the desert was, like, stupid on the scale of-"

"Link..?" Mipha spoke of softly, offering him a chance to reorient his thoughts.

"Sorry," he admitted, "I just- I didn't want a stupid decision to impact you. It's easy for me to do stupid things because that only affects me, but-"

Mipha took in a breath, prepared to interject, but Link was quick to cut her off, "I know- I understand. I'm yours, now."

He reached over to grab hold of her hand.

"It no longer affects only me now."

Mipha's lips curled uncertainly as her eyes peered down to watch his hand clutching onto hers with such strength, as if it were ever unable to let her free from its grasp.

"You know, we're sharing our foods with one another, we're sharing beds," Link concluded with a final, lengthy sigh, "It's not fair for us not to share this journey as well."

Her brow raised with intrigue, Mipha glanced up toward Link's weakened face, "You mean-?"

"So long as you're comfortable with whatever the heck Robbie's concocting out there- You're strong. Stronger than I'll ever hope to be," Link surmised easily, "I'd be happy…to share this journey with you."

Mipha grinned lightly at the sentiment, turning her attention toward the cutlet in her hand, "All this because of your cooking?"

"Yeah, well, it was kind of my fault to begin with," Link grumbled, "If I knew my cooking would end up with all _this_, I would've stopped and just been sick of bacon in beans my entire life…"

A softened giggle leapt free from Mipha as she reached a hand to Link's face opposite her own before pulling him closer, laying a quick kiss upon his cheek, leaving with a smile.

"I love that you can cook," Mipha assured, though her lips took on a mischievous form, "Even if you couldn't, your skin tastes good enough for me to be happy."

Link eyed her sidelong, "Okay, that's a tad creepy."

"Oh, hush," Mipha demanded before playfully bumping his arm with an elbow.

His eyes widened, "I've seen those tiny fish that latch on and suck blood and whatnot; I'm not about to be subject to your vampiric desires."

A wry smirk met him as Mipha assured simply, "Well, I suppose it's good you learned to cook, then."

She took another bite of her cutlet, leaving her vaguely teasing threat in the air for Link to chuckle over as he shook his head in exasperation, sighing in deep contentedness.

"You know," he spoke up, quietly, "Whatever comes of this-"

He turned to watch her beautiful frame, "You were right. These _have_ been the best days. I wouldn't dare hope to experience another without you."

Embarrassed, Mipha bowed her head quickly, allowing her a moment to finish her bite of food, thankfully that, at least when it came to displays of such utter weakness, she was infinitely better equipped versus the man who blushed in those so tender moments.


	47. The Lanmola, and Other Scary Tales

Atop the rotund, cobblestone base of the lighthouse, Link bent down to spread out the map the Company had treated as a religious text for much of their journey, still marked with notations from their two previous destinations through the Gerudo Desert and then Zorana, with only brief notes made throughout their Akkalan venture. Now, as he readied a pencil, Link's eyes cast a wide swath across the map, taking in their journey, as well as its instrumental work in helping Mipha better understand written Hylian, a task that took him back to that first night with her back at the peak of Sartori Mountain.

Daruk's lumbering steps broke him from his reverie as he approached, with Zelda accompanying him with an authoritative zeal in her voice, "Alright, I want to make sure we know _exactly_ where we're going. We are to take _no_ chances; if there's a path you're _not_ sure of, we're _not_ taking it."

"Aye, Zelda!" Daruk assured, "I can guarantee my knowledge of these mountains to an extensive degree. Now, I know some of you were assuming we'd exit Akkala the way we came, however-"

Stepping toward the map, Daruk's large, stony finger pressed into the parchment paper, "We actually don't have to spend that time rounding the whole of Death Mountain's eastern flank. Uh, that is, if we're all in agreement."

Zelda crossed her arms as she nodded, "What are you suggesting?"

"With my reputation as Most Helpful Pebble-Paddler on the line, I recommend making our brief ascent along Eldin's Flank, rather than the traditional route through its Canyon," Daruk explained, pointing along the map while Link followed with the pencil.

Circling their current location, at the northeastern tip of Akkala, Link followed Daruk's directive to the northwest while the Goron furthered his recommendation, "We can circumnavigate Tumlea Heights, just to the west of here, and cross the Akkala Wilds around Skull Lake, here. Then it's just a stone's throw across the steam farms of Gut Check Rock- we might even find my Brother, Bayge, there still! You know, there's a funny story about Bayge; he loves pumping iron so much that he-"

Link glanced up at him with a fierce stare, shaking his head once he finally caught the Goron's attention, leaving Daruk to pause, clearing his throat.

"That is to say, while Eldin's Flank isn't that easy of an ascent- it's more 'medium', I suppose, it's quick, and in addition-"

His finger slid across the page toward the northern edge of Lake Darman, "There's an entrance to one of those vents I've mentioned right here. So if we're hoping to enter into the mountain in the quickest amount of time, this might be our best bet."

Zelda's eyes followed the lines and circles Link had left scrawled there, scrutinizing the plan as best she could with Mipha at the forefront of her mind, considering all the possibilities she was capable of considering. Her foot tapped distantly at the earth beneath her, lips curling inward to demonstrate her deepening thought.

"Link?" she suddenly asked, much to the knight's surprise, "What do you think?"

Looking up toward her, Link averted his eyes, "I'm one to follow orders, not offer them."

"Then get used to offering," Zelda quickly criticized, "What do you think?"

Link's face tensed, taking in a shallow breath as he muttered, "Daruk's my Sworn Brother, so I trust him. If he believes this route is our best shot- If those tunnels are truly more hospitable, I would assume we should be aiming to get there as soon as is possible, especially given the limitations on that suit."

Zelda had nodded along slowly in understanding rather than agreement, eyes jutting up toward Daruk, "And you're sure the entrance is still there?"

"Without a doubt!" Daruk assured, "While currently in disuse, there are some Gorons who continue to maintain them simply for the properties that make them great for mining. That entrance is there as sure as I'm a man of stone!"

Lips still curled in unwavering reflection, Zelda slowly nodded, "Alright, then we'll do it. The one variable we cannot account for is time, and I've never been one prepared to let it slip by."

"Excellent!" Daruk happily charged as Link made the final adjustments to the scrawl atop the parchment paper, labeling landmarks for Mipha to later recite to herself, "Even amidst so much uncertainty, I'm excited! My Goron spirit is aflame with expectation!"

Zelda smiled weakly, "While I'm all for high spirits, let's go into this with a cautious attitude as well. We don't-"

Her attention, in time with Link and Daruk's, suddenly turned toward the doorway of the lighthouse as Robbie leapt free from its entrance, throwing his arms up in direction as he shouted, "Alriiight-! A little lower! Lower! Watch the-! Lower!"

Stepping backward with the suit in her arms, Urbosa hobbled along with gritted teeth, shouting angrily as Zelda came into view, "I'm gonna make _him_ a little lower if he doesn't shut it!"

Zelda covered her face with a hand as Urbosa cleared the doorway, leaving the suit unscathed as Robbie leapt back up toward her, giving instruction, "Alright. Now, you understand how this mechanism works, right? It won't withstand heat on its own- it must have a Zora body within it to help regulate its-"

"We know, we know," Urbosa mused in frustration, "Make sure Mipha is in there _before_ stepping into any super-hot locations. Preferably with that gekari gel on."

Robbie peered overtop the rims of his glasses, annoyed with her reductive answer, though he still gave a solemn, "More or less, that's correct, yes. The suit will enhance her natural thermo-regularity so long as you all take care."

"And return to normal temperatures within, at most, twelve hours," Zelda absently reminded.

"That too," Robbie nodded to himself, curling fingers atop his chin as he considered whatever else he may have missed.

Urbosa creaked along before bending her knees low, dropping the suit to the ground with a grunting release, huffing breath back into her lungs while she complained, "I'd hate to feel this thing before your modifications. Daruk."

Garnering the Goron's attention, Urbosa raised her arm in ardent determination, "Time for us to show these piddly beings what true strength is."

"Bwah ha!" Daruk shouted excitedly at the prospect of showing off, "You are indeed correct! It comes apart at the wait, correct?"

"Y- Yes, but-!" Robbie pleaded, "Just-!"

Daruk lumbered over while Urbosa pried apart the mechanism of a suit, "Brilliant! You carry one half, I've got the other!"

He made sure to gave Revali a teasing glance, "A little something your wings cannot do!"

The Rito scoffed, "Surely you can understand with that igneous mind of yours that you're simply bragging about your status as a porter, correct?"

"A _strong_ porter, perhaps," Daruk grinned, leaving Revali with a disgusted rolling of the eyes, "We're not carrying mere equipment."

Urbosa nodded, "That's correct. Should we accomplish this mission-"

She turned to find Mipha stepping out from within the workshop, the Zoran woman immediately taken aback by the spotlight while Urbosa continued with a wry smirk, "-we'll have ported the first Zora, ever, into a volcano."

"As if such an event were grandiose in any sense of the word," Revali bit back with a scoff.

Urbosa shrugged, "Hey, if this all doesn't work out, we can just make our rupees off our Mipha roadshow."

"I- I beg your pardon?" Mipha stammered warily.

Still knelt down, examining the map for any sign of weakness within their plan, Link's hollow voice suddenly broke the mood, "We've forgotten something."

Sighing, Zelda spoke in reply, "Well, not truly. I've been considering it for the last few moments, but hadn't an idea."

She turned toward the Company, "What if Vah Rudania isn't there and we have to wait?"

The question posed brought a sudden halt to everybody's conversation, save for Robbie, who instantly brought up the simple point, "I do suppose, should you arrive at your destination- if the Beast does not meet you, the only option is to turn back and regroup."

Link turned toward Mipha with a stoic air, awaiting her reaction, which only came in the form of a soft smile as she spun toward Zelda, "If that's a sacrifice I must make, so be it. If the Goddess does not wish for me to venture so far, I'm not one to argue."

"Then there you have it, I suppose," Zelda shrugged while Link eyed her, "By then, Mipha will know her way."

Urbosa's voice came pining from the side, a wryness accompanying her tone, "I'm sure she could find a companion, even within Death Mountain."

Mipha's eyes went wide in embarrassment, not placing much of any importance behind Urbosa's words beyond a mere tease, though Link knew what the Gerudo was getting at. Despite his wanting, he remained calm, depriving her of the reaction she was hoping for- after all, he was supposed to be as oblivious as Mipha was. He rose to his feet, murmuring simply as he dusted his knee off.

"That has to be a decision made once we get there, correct?"

"Correct," Zelda nodded, taking up her backpack as Daruk strung up his half of Mipha's suit, "Dr. Robbie? I cannot thank you enough for all you've done for us."

The Sheikah doctor scoffed, throwing his hand through the air, "Pah! It was nothing of note! My eternal service is to Hyrule Kingdom; if this helps my dear Princess with her goals, than I would have worked in my sleep had I needed to!"

"Now _that's_ a trick worthy of me seeing," Urbosa nodded in passing as she lugged the other suit-half toward the others.

Robbie quickly pattered up toward Daruk, "Now, look here, Goron! That piece of equipment is to-notch! Don't go tossing it around all maniacal like as if it were my poor Dolly! -er, uh, my mailbox."

Glumly so, Daruk frowned down toward the man, simply wishing for his tumultuous opinion to leave him, and deciding to simply oblige him with a dark, "Yes. Yes, I understand."

"Good!" Robbie pierced in high spirits, "Now you all take care! I don't doubt you have the bodies, but the minds- That'll be what is tested!"

Link dropped his head, "Oh, goddess; we might be doomed…"

A chuckle escaped Urbosa before Revali threw his shoulders up, his plumage falling aflutter, "Ah, this is another birdbrain reference. I assure you all that my mind is sharp as a tack! The veritable pinnacle with which has raised the remainder of my personage to such tremendous heights!"

"I, for one, agree!" Zelda declared as the troupe started off to the north-west, "Revali breathlessly personifies the proper mindset for such a venture!"

Urbosa mused with confusion, "Utter stubbornness?"

At that, Revali's lips grew into a proud smirk, "You'd do well to follow my example, Gerudo. or have you not _also_ been recognized for such traits by even an earthen Princess?"

"Actually, if you must know, I have," Urbosa boasted with a grin aimed toward Zelda, who returned to her with confused slant.

"Do what now?!"

A hearty laugh from Urbosa left the Company with a heartfelt note, save for Revali and Zelda, the last of which remained wholly lost by her surrogate mother's words.

Urbosa smirked, "If I must remind you, perhaps it's best that I not tell you."

"Oh, come on," Zelda sighed, her shoulders drooping, "You can't just-"

"She's called me stubborn, too," Link muttered, gradually raising a hand.

"Okay, that was totally diff-"

"She hit me and told me to die, too," Link recalled simply.

Zelda frowned, his words biting against her guilty memories, "_Out_ _of_ _context_, that sounds a lot worse than it truly was."

"I don't know; _in_ context, it was rather painful," Link smugly surmised.

Her thoughts grinding to a halt, Zelda huffed a quaking breath, "Alright, okay- I'm the bad guy here- I get it."

"Pah!" Revali chided in an instant, "Do not deprive me of your menial validation! You may just be the best among us to understand my talents when these other pest refuse to."

Trapped within a vortex of a conundrum, Zelda simply decided to make a forward pass of conversation, rather blindly, shouting, "Alright then! Daruk! We're visiting your home; regale us with some tales of the mountain! Perhaps a folk song or two!"

Revali violently shivered, "By the good graces of Witwa, no!"

Even Link turned away as Daruk gave a rousing introduction, "Well now that you mention it, I was always quite the rubble-rouser as well! A- Ahem. Allow me to- You know what?"

He spun around to glance at Mipha, "Uh, dear Mipha. Would you mind gliding your claws along your scales? I will require some accompaniment to make sure my voice is in-tune."

"O- Okay…" Mipha shivered at the thought, wondering exactly how she was to accomplish what Daruk requested, eying her claws with confusion all while Daruk ran through some vocal exercises.

"Waaa wa wa waaAAA WAAAAaaa! Lee lee lilo laaAAAAaaa!"

Urbosa muttered, "Goddess…"

In similar complaint, Revali scolded, "Well, we now know those men of rock can experience inebriation if only to withstand such torments…"

"Certainly being drunk would h- Hey!" Urbosa scrambled upon noticing Link leaning sidelong away from the Company, subtly reaching his lips down toward a canteen of his.

Link glared at her, "Hey, _I_ cooked last night."

"So? My brain's gonna be cooked now!" Urbosa pleaded as Daruk began with a rumbling voice that shook the very ground beneath them.

"Ho! WHOA! HWHOOOOA! to the SIRLOIN STONES I GOOoooOOO!"

Mipha felt her scales dither in time with Daruk's booming verse, leaving her unable to play much of anything atop her skin, even if the mood were to strike her more fierce than her current mood of awkwardity mashed up with an intense desire to rush off in the opposite direction.

* * *

"-and that, my friends, is the tale of the stoic stone who refused to budge in the face of lava flow," Daruk proudly finished in a rousing voice, "It's the sort of tale we tell to our young ones to teach them the dangers of going anticline."

Urbosa slid a hand across her face, "As much as I'd like to say I understand…"

"I do!" Zelda piped up, reciting easily, "Anticline. The characteristic of a rock folding upward in the middle."

Daruk nodded, "Well, insofar as the Goron body goes, yes! In nature, it's those bulges of strata. You see, we Gorons, we have a-"

"Daruk!" Link charged suddenly, yanking him from his explanation, "Perhaps another story! Please!"

The Company had rounded the northernmost region of Akkala, passing through the Wilds and now ascending the layers of rock that spouted up high atop Skull Lake, leaving them with the sun high in its noontime presence. While begrudging, Daruk's odd tales had left the Company rather buoyant on their moods, if only due to insipid curiosity when Daruk began explaining things far too odd for their understanding. Perhaps, given the utter lack of life atop these peaks, the Gorons had merely constructed oddities from whole cloth where the other people of Hyrule had based so much of their own legends upon oddities, sure, but rather naturalistic ones. The Gorons seemed far more concerned with boulders coming to life to reveal treasure, or lava flows traveling uphill to punish a ne'er-do-well within a fable.

While out of this world, certainly, Daruk's boisterous attitude allowed a particular air of entertainment, even if most of the troupe went on feigning indifference, simply to keep from Daruk being proven correct in his boast that his people's stories were the best- they certainly weren't close to being the worst.

"Hmm, well- What kind of story?" Daruk wondered aloud, "Perhaps a vigorous tale of Goron love? a dramatic tragedy? Oh! Perhaps a scary story to shiver your ryholites?"

Urbosa perked up, "Yeah, that last one. I've come to learn that scary stories often say the most about a culture. Triumphant tales- they're always embellished to a fault. _Scary_ stories, now- Those so often describe the most telling qualities of a people. Like the Rito- I know of that story where the child roams too far and begins shedding its feathers, never for them to return."

"A learning fable, to be sure," Revali shrugged, "Meant to relay to eaglets the importance of remaining amongst the group which most assuredly keeps watch over them. It does not hurt that the message threatens that which is most humiliating to us Rito- the loss of one's feathers. From procreation to recreation, our mantles are what best exemplifies that which makes us Rito, after all."

Shrugging, he explained further, "Even our youngest, who do not understand social norms, know of the importance of feathers. Even after we hatch, our mothers' coverts continue to be a major source of comfort and nurturing."

Revali visibly shook with distaste, "Such a ghastly fate to live without plumage."

"I'm rather taken with it," Zelda happily replied, poking at her arm, "I can't imagine how much time it takes to preen and keep them all clean and- I mean, honestly, when I was a child, my mother took me out to the courtyard and I started digging for fossils; my skin was a wreck from all the dust."

The Rito allowed his brow to raise with languid revulsion, "Scary indeed…"

Having been listening along, Daruk's thoughts had wrangled with their conversation as his fingers rolled through his beard, "I don't know if any of that is true of _our_ skin. Steam baths are wonderful! though I doubt they offer any benefits toward our wellbeing. I know magma work gets done on some older Gorons as sediment builds up, but even that is painful, I hear."

"Magma baths?!" Zelda spoke up in shock.

Chuckling, Daruk assured, "They're not baths; more like, uh-"

His eyes wavered toward Link, signaling his need for an analogy, which Link offered simply, "They're like a spa treatment. Like an applied ointment."

"Yes!" Daruk clamored happily, "They take some magma and allow it to cool for a moment before pouring it across their rocky skin. It'll melt the auxiliary sediment, but as I said, it's quite painful. Many Gorons prefer to simply accept their anticline. You should see Bludo! His craggy mantle is a testament to a life heartily lived!"

Nodding with interest, Zelda furthered, "I was confused, since I always figured one of Hyrule's bitter ironies was that Gorons, even with their mastery of the mountainous heat, also find their most bitter of locales when it comes to lava."

"Bitter indeed," Urbosa frowned, "Even the Gerudo seem well-placed in our desert, given our tanned hides and long legs."

Daruk smiled, "We believe it is merely a testament to the power of nature! If it were not us Gorons, it would be another, perhaps less able, people having to coexist with this mountain- we see this as a tremendous responsibility for us to undertake. Similar, I suppose, to the Zora's handling of their reservoir."

"Except that reservoir _provides_ life," Urbosa smirked with wry irony.

Gradually, a smirk arose upon Daruk's face, "Who is to say that the magma pools of Death Mountain do not also provide life?"

Mipha's brow slowly raised in interest as Daruk chuckled, "I suppose you originally wanted a scary story! One of our oldest tales is that of the Lanmola."

"_Lanmola_?" Revali pithily jarred with a soft tone laced with pathetic intonation, "I do believe you've conjured that up from some noisome dish you had planted before you on a saucer."

Again, with misplaced brotherly zeal, Daruk laughed, "Lanmola is not a food! Some of our oldest tales involve the Lanmola, sort of a species of creepy crawlies that live within the mountain. It is said that ancient heroes felled these creatures whenever they emerged, leaving the Lanmola without a home that would accept them. The only place that could have offered them solitude, of course, was within the very mountain that proves treacherous for so many."

He grinned, "It's mostly a tale to frighten our own young ones, but instead of keeping them nearby, it's to advise against exploring too far into the mountain. We Gorons began our existence within the mountain ourselves; it seems disrespectful to waste the gift of living atop the earth by reverting to our present state."

"I see," Zelda nodded, pouring over his words, "What was the Lanmola like?"

"Well, uh-" Daruk wondered to himself, "They're supposed to be like worms, or centipedes I suppose, but with iron hides, able to withstand the very magma that could fell any number of us. with segmented bodies, at that! so that if you only chopped off one portion, it would scurry away, only to regenerate itself!"

Revali's shoulders scrunched inward toward his neck as his tongue poured out in disgust, "Gah! Such a wretched-! You've made your point, Goron, now hush up about it!"

"BWAH HA!" Daruk chuckled as heartily as ever, as though having accomplish a plan as he swatted the air before him, "I suppose that's why it works for our young ones!"

A dangerous stare came from over Revali's shoulder, "What are you insinuating, Goron?"

"Hopefully nothing," Link muttered plainly, "Not while this lumbering ball of igneous rock remains afraid of dogs."

"Dogs?!" Urbosa excitedly exclaimed with a ever-present smirk, "Really?!"

Daruk managed something of a blush as he covered his mouth, "That-! That is to say-!"

"Terrified of them," Link continued in teasing breath, "That roll-up thing he did back in the desert? How do you think he got so good at that?"

"PFFT!" Urbosa barely withheld a massive laugh behind bitten lip, eyes watering at her resistance.

Mipha offered easily, "But they're so friendly."

"Friendly?!" Daruk wondered aloud in terror, "Those barred fangs! how doggedly swift they approach anyone and everyone?!"

"Again, just saying 'hello'," Link shrugged.

Daruk caught Zelda's giggling to herself, a hand concealing her mouth, but unable to hide her gleeful face, leaving Daruk to pitiably plead, "I-! I can assure you, Zelda, such a defect wouldn't ever deter me from continuing my outstanding protection of you or anyone of this Company!"

"Unless-!" Urbosa spat through her tense expression her entire body tensing to withhold utter laughter, "Unless we-! encounter-! a massive dog monster!"

Like a dam collapsing, a torrential outpouring of laugh burst from Urbosa as she bent forward, forcing her to reorient the half of Robbie's suit at her back simply to keep it upon her, the contagious bout of humor making its round along the group like a plague with which only Revali and Daruk had a cure. Link only smirked as he turned away to hide his minute chuckles, though Mipha had to clutch her chest to better orient herself as her laughs escaped in short, resonant bouts.

"Alright, alright; so you all know, now," Daruk worriedly mumbled, stroking his beard.

Revali clicked his teeth displeasingly, "I see no humor in this. Such disagreeable beings dogs are. Blech."

Throwing an open hand toward Revali, Daruk pleaded, "See?!"

None of this stopped the plateaued laughter amongst the group, even as Revali continued, "Those matted beasts, shoving their claws into the soil and finding rest among the dirt. Did you know they chew on bones found in the dirt with whatever disgusting vermin might be found upon them?!"

Wholly embarrassed, Daruk buried his head into his chest, his flattened hand rising to his brow to cover his face as the Company slowly managed closer toward Eldin's Flank, the interruption of laughter having slowed them somewhat for some paces now. His head only emerged from its cocoon of rock when a hand came to his back, patting him gently to gain his attention, forcing his eyes upon Link's grinning face.

"Don't worry about it, Brother," he assured with a nod, battling back further chuckling as he spoke up shakily, "Even if you were merely stone, I don't think the dogs could do much to you."

As Link spun away to hide his reserved laughter, Daruk was nonetheless lightened by his Brother's sentiment, however humored Link might have found it. Unleashing a deep breath, Daruk simply reminded himself of his duty toward offering the same distraction from this journey's more dreary moments, his own embarrassment a minor tribute when compared to the amusement, and happiness, of the others.

Despite his strength, he knew it to be a trait well prized by the others, even if Revali would have refused to admit such a thing.


	48. Incendiary Charge

The Company began its trudging formation along the spiny backbone of Eldrin's Flank, their altitude rising in time with the slopes of Death Mountain. As they brought their slow ascent further along their track, Zelda had begun keeping watch over Mipha, periodically taking oblong glances over her shoulder, much to the Zora's amusement.

"I'm fine," Mipha assured with a smile, "I do believe I mentioned much the same a few moments ago."

Zelda sighed, "I know, I know. I'm just being careful, is all."

Her brow curled, "You're not one of those people who _says_ they're fine when-"

"Oh, she is," Link nodded, answering for her.

Mipha frowned, "Well, I suppose that's true, but- In this case, I wouldn't do anything to worry you, Zelda."

From behind them, a rough voice from Urbosa emerged as she threw her body up to reorient the massive half-suit she had carried overtop her shoulder for hours now, "W- Well, you _sure_ you don't just- wanna- get a test run in before it's time..?"

Her lips fell into a frown when Daruk began to laugh, "Bwah ha! I _do_ suppose it would be difficult for you, Urbosa!"

"Hey now, Rocko, I beat you silly at arm wrestling, remember?" she boasted greedily, "So sue me; I've the limitations of flesh and blood. Intense bouts of stamina does not equate to strength."

Daruk nodded sarcastically, "Ahh, yes; something _you_ might say to better explain yourself."

Before Urbosa could retort, Zelda raised her hands, "Alright, alright. Before we're forced to stop to measure biceps- Mipha, are you sure you don't want to get some practice in, walking in the suit?"

"I suppose I could," Mipha answered pleasantly, thinking more of Urbosa's extended help than her own eagerness to remain unnecessarily aided, "I didn't explore it _too_ much back at the workshop."

Nodding attentively, Zelda reached up, snapping her finger with a swift, "Alright! Urbosa, drop the load!"

"Drop the-" Urbosa replied with exasperation, "What are you? a lumberyard foreman?"

With a smirk, Zelda shrugged, "I suppose I _could_ be at the moment. C'mon."

"Say no more," Urbosa breathed with relief, spinning the legged half of the suit along her shoulder before setting it up atop the dusty crust of earth beneath them, "How's that?"

She examined the piece of Guardian equipment, so well-shaped by nonsensical swirls of Sheikah design and rungs of uncolored paths that might have shone with neon sheen were it still powered by its original mechanism.

Mipha appraised it appropriately as she stepped toward the bulky piece, watching it as if in preparation. Urbosa took the moment to stretch out her back, ejecting a booming groan into the air as her spine was offered relief.

"Goddess, that's nice!" she spoke up in tense happiness, leaving Zelda to giggle at her demonstration.

"You're like an old woman right now," she teased.

Urbosa's face spun into confusion, "What? My skin is as taut as the day it met the sun! Just you wait, child; it'll be sooner than later that your bones begin disagreeing with you."

"Uh huh," muttered Zelda slyly, "We'll see about that, won't we?"

"Ha!" Daruk gleefully chuckled, "You're taking on many rivals, my friend!"

Urbosa shot him a glare, "Only 'cause I can handle them, buddy."

While the three prattled about, Mipha approached the bottom half of the suit with a particular uncertainty, which Link noticed swiftly with his eyes having already followed her along. He watched her lips curl as if sizing the equipment up, smiling himself as Mipha attempted to figure just how to step into the mechanical breeches that stood too high for such a simple maneuver.

Link's eyes flashed toward the others for a moment, catching the continuing shenanigans, as well as Revali's disinterest as he pattered about nearby. Shaking his head, he approached the suited half as well, forcing Mipha's curious eyes up toward him as his arms rose to offer her his hands.

"P- Pardon?" she inquired sincerely, holding back embarrassment.

Link shrugged, "I'll lift you on into it."

"Th- That-" Mipha suddenly sputtered.

"Come on," Link assured quietly, leaning in close, "It's not the closest we'll have been."

Mipha's eyes spun away, "I-! I mean- Yes, but-"

Only smirking at her abject shame toward being helped in such a way, Link crossed his arms, "Nobody's watching, if that's what is concerning you."

She bit her lips, eyes fluttering to confirm Link's claim, before burying her head low and gingerly raising her arms to allow him a grasp of her sides. Quickly enough, Link took her just underneath either side of her ribcage, hands glancing atop such tender scales, before picking her up and swinging her overtop the mechanical leggings where she cautiously slipped her feet into the contraption.

Immediately afterward, Mipha's head sputtered around either shoulder to ensure she hadn't been seen, to which Link simply grinned as he held the suit while she moved to ensure its stability, "Help doesn't always imply helplessness, you know."

"I know, just-" Mipha frowned, "I'm already being watched over and we're not even close to the top…"

Link nodded absentmindedly in understanding as he felt around the hip area of the suit, "Well, if it's any consolation, I'm only half-watching you in worry."

A wry smirk appeared as Mipha retaliated, "Oh, hush."

"Pretty sturdy," Link spoke up as the others returned their attention onward, patting the mechanism.

"I'd say something like 'Don't I know it!' but these two would get all over my case again," Urbosa complained as she grabbed her shoulder before winding up her arm to stretch further.

Attention shifting back to Mipha, Link asked, "How long should that gekari gel from an hour ago last you?"

"I'm not sure how the intense heat with affect its potency, but if Daruk is correct and the inner shafts of the mountain are cooler, I should be fine with what's applied."

Nodding diligently, Zelda stepped along toward the incline of the mountain, "Alright then, let's get on!"

"Someone's excited!" Daruk exclaimed happily, "I'm always thrilled to present my home to others!"

Another few steps and Zelda paused, spinning around to watch as Mipha wiggled her body until the mechanical apparatus begin to jolt forward, leaving a collective look of shock amongst the faces of the intrigued Company members.

"Look at that!" Zelda exclaimed.

Crossing his arms with bewilderment, Daruk marveled, "Whoa! It's almost like a marionette!"

Locked in focus, Mipha's tongue remained held tightly bitten down by her lips while her legs worked mechanically, gradually returning to something of a fluid stride as the machine began to break itself in and Mipha grew to better comprehend its instruction.

"It's a bit- odd," she admitted staggeringly, "I'm, uh- not used to having my- scales- You know."

"Suffocated?" Urbosa wondered in offering.

Mipha nodded, "Something like that, yeah. I mean, I'm so used to lacking clothing that-"

Her voice trailed off as concentration overtook her, even amidst the collective awe of Zelda, Urbosa, and Daruk, while Link focused more on Mipha herself, unable to wholly conceal his feelings of concern. Still, her resilience shone through like sunlight in through shallow waters, pressing on determinately up the mountain, and even leading the troupe as they were slowed by awestruck eyes.

Revali spun around to join the cluster once more, his lips turning in critique before offering plainly, "Hmm… I suppose it _is_ rather intriguing."

"Right?!" Zelda exclaimed with delight, "Seeing it _now_, I-! Just think of the possibilities! Robbie is truly on to something spectacular!"

A hand reached over to gently land atop Zelda's head, directing it toward the mountain's peak as Urbosa's softened voice broke past her ear, "Let's focus on just _one_ possibility now, Princess."

A blood-curdling crawling of frigidity splintered down Zelda's spine at the very thought of losing out on an opportunity for research, yet she managed to pull her psyche together at Urbosa's behest, nodding with purpose as she took in a breath.

"Y- Yes, of course," Zelda confirmed, "Shall we press on? if Mipha is comfortable?"

After a brief moment of further movement and confidence, Mipha nodded quickly with a slight, "…yes. We can move on."

Her excitement now checked by her surrogate mother, Zelda better tempered her emotions as she took charge once more, waving for the others to follow, "Alright. We press on until Mipha requires the top half of her suit, and from that point on, Daruk, you take the lead, alright?"

"On my honor!" the Goron heartily replied as he slammed a fist against his chest before bowing oddly, still clutching the opposite half of the suit over his shoulder, "You have my word!"

* * *

The incline of the Flank arose with such a sheer face as the troupe advanced, leading to a quickening increase of temperature as they approached the swaths of hot air barreling down the ends of the mountain, battling for presence within the atmosphere with equally blistering currents of air. As they rounded the final curve up the mountain, passing the magnificent vantage point of Gut Check Rock, the lava flows of Death Mountain's peak came into view, only heightening the Company's perception of just how sweltering it was becoming. Despite this, however, Mipha remained silent, leading to juggled nerves among the others, even Revali, who couldn't help but shoot sidelong glances in her direction from time to time.

Finally, as if in defiance of Mipha's resilience, Zelda finally spoke up as she wiped sweat from her brow, "Alright, Mipha? You ready to try it all on?"

"N- No," came the Zora's reply, her silence now explained as she'd been attempting to conceal her panting breaths, "I- I can still-"

"Still nothing," Zelda ordered, eyes flashing to find Link's face contorted in worry, as she pointed toward Daruk, "Come on. It's going on. You need any more gel?"

Mipha shook her head, "No. Of that, I'm sure."

Still in concern, Zelda turned her lips inward, but took her at her word in this regard, knowing she still had some applied to her skin, instead allowing Daruk to carefully bring the top half of the suit over his head and atop of Mipha's stationary body.

"Okay!" Daruk exclaimed, making sure it was facing the proper way, "Are you ready to enter the fishbowl?"

Mipha watched him with confusion while Urbosa scoffed, "Okay, rude!"

"What's rude?!" Daruk wondered aloud, "It's a home outside of the waves, is it not?"

Before Urbosa could interject, Mipha gave a weak giggle, nodding slightly, "It- It's a cute name for the suit."

"See?" Daruk grinned, slowly lowering the torso over Mipha's body, the Zora carefully raising her arms to slide into the extremities of the device.

As they worked, Zelda's body spun slowly toward the magnanimous sight of where they were headed, backgrounded by Death Mountain itself. The rivers of sickly orange lava was intimidating enough, but the bellowing clouds of acrid smoke, pouring out from the mountain as though it were battling the very clear skies that gave this world life, only pressed upon her a daunting presence as she returned to see Mipha wiggling around, now fully encased within her suit, with only her face visible behind a glass screen.

"How is it?" Link asked, sliding his hands along its hips to ensure the two pieces were surely adjoined.

The suit followed along as Mipha bent forward, attempting to discover the boundaries of movement as she answered, "It's- constricting, but- It's nowhere near as- hot in here. It's almost like- if you had a device to make- your breathing easier. It's synthetically cozy."

"I suppose that's the most appropriate term," Urbosa mused in wonderment as she examined the whole body of machine, lips pulled to the side as she critiqued the mechanism.

Zelda nodded in understanding as she turned to Revali, "You holding up yourself?"

"Pah! Were I not a Rito!" he charged simply, though quickly played down his bravado as he complained, scratching at his arm, "The dry air is irritating my quills, it seems, though."

"Okay, then there's no time to lose," Zelda confirmed, "From here on out, we're on a time crunch, alright?"

Urbosa coyly smirked at her young child's sudden direction, nodding in obedience as the others rolled along, carefully at first while Mipha acclimatized herself, not only to the added weight surrounding her, but the wholly foreign range of motion that now bound her within the machine's grasp.

The Company ascended further, now within the imposing shadow of Death Mountain itself, seemingly forever trudging up the incline as the oppressive heat beat down upon them. Between exertion and the elements surrounding them, Link felt his throat constrict as he attempted to fight for air, not having wholly considered the lack of such a commodity at this altitude. With speed came time, however, it stripped the group of a chance for their bodies to gradually acclimate to the lack of oxygen.

He noticed Zelda with much the same issue, while Urbosa remained rather nonplussed, though he couldn't tell if it wasn't simply her continuing to appear confident in all things. Regardless, it was like a jolt of fresh air to hear Daruk's voice exclaiming happily.

"Right up there! The archway!" he spoke in elation, "Lake Darman is just beyond that entrance!"

"And the tunnel…" Link asked lightly.

Daruk assured swiftly, "The vents begin just nearby; at least one of them. I'd say, at this current pace, we'll be within its confines within ten minutes or so."

"Well, some good news for once!" Revali churned insufferably so, "I'm not even sure I could fly up here with how lacking the air is."

Grinning, Daruk nodded proudly, "I wouldn't doubt it! I'm sure even Urbosa has some disadvantageous traits of being up here! Ah yes, to be a Goron, living where only Gorons can."

"Actually, I'm fine," Urbosa shrugged, "The heat isn't anything. The lack of air is nothing much, either."

Crossing her arms, she tilted her head, "I could even see myself constructing a summer home up here."

"Bwah ha! Surely you're joking!" Daruk laughed, fishing for some trait that was exclusive only to Gorons, "It's much too precarious up here for anybody not a Goron!"

Urbosa eyed him, "You do know who you're talking to, right? Precarious is my middle name."

A sudden placidity overtook Zelda's face as she turned her sights over her shoulder, muttering, "I thought your middle name was R-"

A hearty laugh from Daruk interrupted her, the Goron shaking his head, "You're too much at times! Sure, perhaps for a day or two, but a week? Nah; you'd tremble beneath the might of this mountain."

"Are you looking for another fight?" Urbosa challenged lightly, smirking as she spoke.

"Of course not!" Daruk assured unconvincingly, "I'm just simply relaying to you that- while you may not believe it, you certainly could not survive up here, at least not for long."

Stepping quicker to approach the front of the pack, Urbosa chuckled, "He's getting cocky, now."

Waving Daruk to follow her lead, Urbosa went on, "Shut up about that now. You're supposed to be taking lead, remember?"

"Ah! Yes!" Daruk nodded, turning to Link, who remained alone behind Mipha, "You've got her if she falls backward?"

Link eyed him scrupulously, "In _that_ suit?"

Frowning worriedly, Daruk clamored forward, pausing for a moment to speak up to Mipha, whose face was still buried low to watch her movements through the glass shield in front of her face.

"Just, uh- Don't fall backward, okay?"

Her head immediately raised up in shock as Daruk nodded in unrequited reply, simply turning to join Urbosa while the Zora looked around in curiosity, wondering what might send her toppling backward, the thought never having occurred to her. Despite this, Link remained with a hand on the shoulder of her suit, just in case.

"Okay, then," Daruk nodded, patting a fist into his palm as the Company passed beneath the craggy arch that signaled their arrival to Lake Darman, "It's not much farther."

A blistering gush of furiously scorching air pressed into the group like the heated breath of giant mass, nearly forcing them back as their skin grew to understand the sensation of becoming singed by flame. As the Company regrouped, Daruk went on ahead to scout ahead, hoping to save time simply by scoping out the entrance.

He stepped ahead, rounding the final corner that brought Lake Darman into view, before his feet skidded to a stop, catching Urbosa's attention. She turned to give the Company another once over before warily approaching Daruk, keeping her eyes out as she stepped past him, catching sight of the landscape before him that had left him gob smacked.

"Daruk?" she asked, "What's up?"

"I-" he stammered to reply, suddenly turning his head left and right, "This isn't-"

He started off again, now aimlessly, as if he had lost something amidst the charred earth beneath his-

"Wait," Urbosa suddenly accused, raising her hands in awe, "Are you telling me it's not-"

"It's here! I'm sure of it!" Daruk insisted, twirling around in place, "I just- Not exactly where I remembered it being is all."

Urbosa buried her face into her palm as Daruk continued searching the landscape, ever-increasing in desperation at the thought of the rest of the Company arriving only to discover his misstep. He quickly scampered around, eyes wide in terror, making jerking movements at inopportune times simply to reexamine spots he had already gone over. Urbosa leaned back to catch the troupe approaching, Zelda having covered her face to protect herself as best she could from the noxious fumes of sulfur that now odored the air.

"Almost there," she heard Zelda murmur to herself, disheartened at the prospect of telling this woman that the goal wasn't as concrete as once believed.

Her head whipped around one final time, catching Daruk half-sunken behind a mound of ash, still exploring, before returning to Zelda with a droll, "Yeah, about that-"

Link's eyes bolted up toward her, "What?!"

"Daruk kind of-" Urbosa bit her lip, scratching her scalp nervously, "He might have been off a bit in his recollection of where exactly the entrance was."

"By the Goddess!" Revali exclaimed in exasperation, in contrast to Zelda's sudden, disheartened reaction as she collapsed to a knee before dropping her head.

"Urbosa!" she cried out, not in accusation, but simply to remember that her protector was near.

The Gerudo assured readily, "He'll find it! Don't worry! Look, I'm searching, too."

She turned away, hustling in the opposite direction from Daruk, who continued barreling about the landscape. Zelda's eyes peered up only slightly, catching the sight of Lake Darman, its orange-red glow seeming less like a landmark than a bitter irony at this moment.

"Of the stupid-!" Revali shouted in disgust, flapping his arms up and then to his sides.

"Shut up!" Link declared, "Getting pissy isn't going to help anyone, alright!"

Revali jerked around to meet his stare, "Easy for _you_ to say, imbecile! You can afford to lose some skin! We magnificent Rito are-!"

"You'd like to say that again within striking distance?!" Link yelled out angrily.

With a scoff, Revali spattered, "With pleasure! It would give me a chance to demonstrate, finally, just how meaningless you are, even _with_ that weapon!"

As the two bickered, while Daruk and Urbosa were off hunting, Zelda managed, only weakly, to bring herself back up, turning to find Mipha standing still, her face concealed behind the steamy visor of the suit. The Hylian Princess trudged on over, slowly, wiping the sweat from her face once again on her sleeve.

"Mipha..?" she managed, weak with lethargy, "You okay?"

She wiped away the particles of condensation that had formed upon the glass of the visor, only to melt away Zelda's expression from one of placidity to one of fright.

Mipha's eyes shook as she peered off into the distance, her lips trembling in sheer concern as she processed Zelda's words, eyes only slowly turning to find Zelda's, only allowing for a wavering voice to emerge.

"I-" she whispered, only barely getting her words beyond her suit, "I don't think so…"

A sudden whimper emerged as tears wormed their way to Mipha's eyes, though it was immediately interrupted by a line of neon suddenly bursting into violet light along the side of the suit, catching Zelda's urgent attention.

"Link!" she cried out, battling back panicked tears of her own as she peered around the suit, the two still embroiled with conflict, forcing a blood-curdling cry to leave her.

"LINK!"

Her bodyguard whipped around, his angered brow immediately furrowing with terror as he noticed the subject of Zelda's attention. He took off with a hair-trigger movement, shoving footprints into the ash below and skidding to a stop at Mipha's side, looking down to find Zelda's hand atop the neon stream of light.

"It-" Zelda forced out through a choking throat as tears waterlogged her tone, "That can't be good, right?"

Terrified more of catching a glimpse of Mipha's face, Link whipped around toward Lake Darman, joining the search with a rampant zeal, skidding knees-first into the acrid soil and plowing his hands into the ash, throwing it behind him like a hell-hound in search of a bone. His hands ached, already dried by the air, but he refused to care. The rocky mantle tore his skin, leaving his hands bloodied, but he simply shut his eyes, refusing to think about much else as he shifted around, digging here and there.

Urbosa managed a glimpse of his wild movement, immediately confused by his actions of searching _downward_. Her brow curled in confusion before realizing, rather quickly, what he'd been getting at.

"Shit!" she cursed angrily, more at herself, before roaring across the lake toward the Goron, "DARUK!"

He only barely caught her exclamation, a terrified expression meeting her as Urbosa pointed his attention toward Link. The Goron immediately saw what Urbosa had, leaving him with a sickening feeling of dread within his own gut, forcing him back closer toward the group.

It was there; it _had_ to be there. Entrances didn't just up and _leave_. The only way it possibly would be concealed, when it was barely even maintained, was by the collection of ash atop of it.

Daruk shook his head, frustrated in himself, before leaping onto the ground and shoving his massive, shovel-like hands into the ground and launching the craggy dust skyward, emulating Link and, immediately afterward, Urbosa.

Zelda stood up, watching Mipha's face in terror in her eyes, the two Princesses sharing little more at that moment than tears. Doing her best to remain calm, Zelda simply kept wiping away the steam from Mipha's visor, shaking her head, apologizing, as she did so.

"I'm so sorry," she muttered achingly, the ball in her throat constricting each and every word.

Despite her own tears, perhaps due to a biological reaction rather than terror in her own right, Mipha reached a mechanical arm up to clutch Zelda's arm, the manufactured sensation forcing a jolt down Zelda's spine from surprise.

"It'll be okay," Mipha confirmed with a weak smile, betraying the dread marked by her tears, "I haven't had any spasms yet, anyway."

Zelda couldn't hold back a sudden burst of a giggle that immediately passed her by, causing her to shake her head as she reprimanded the Zora, "Shut up. This isn't the time for jokes."

"Considering everything going on," Mipha softly laughed, "It might be the best time."

Zelda gave a cryptic glance toward Mipha, turning to notice Revali having even joined the search, though his work was mostly done with his talons, still refusing to soil his plumage. As high as her praise had been toward this mechanism, Zelda now hated this thing that now so forcefully kept these two souls apart when Zelda, perhaps even moreso than Mipha, so desperately needed to be held.

Despite her words, however much like a leader she could sound like, Zelda knew, right then, how weak and trembling she still became when trouble started, especially juxtaposed alongside Mipha, who, as narrowly as her life seemed to be slipping through time at this moment, retained that indelible grace that had so endeared her to Link.

"HERE!" Urbosa suddenly shouted, her arms now churning with a furious pace as she further opened up the hole in the ground that resembled something akin to a mine shaft.

Zelda's head tore through the air and over her shoulder before clutching the suit and helping Mipha along as if her influence were helping whatsoever. Regardless, Mipha managed to step along, watching with bittersweet eyes and Link and Daruk hopped near Urbosa to further excavate their destination, wholly torn apart by their devotion to her, and the Company itself. That was all the resolve she needed to take step after step, however slowly, until Urbosa leapt to her feet, waving Daruk to follow behind her.

"Come on! You get that side, I get this side!"

Daruk nodded.

The two rushed to Mipha's sides, hoisting the entire suit up as Urbosa's voice forcefully grunted through the air, forcing her muscles to burst as the two scampered across the ashy plain while Link gave a final few swipes to heighten the breadth of the entrance, allowing the two powerhouses to simply crouch down and lower Mipha into the dark, chasmous hole in the ground with a massive _CLANG_ that burst through the air as her suit hit the floor within.

The others followed suit, as quick as they could, Urbosa hopping in and helping Zelda down into the cubic shaft that descended into the mountain on a sloping decline, like a ramp. The lot of them immediately collapsed upon entry, even Revali, taking deep, panting breaths while simultaneously taking stock of the temperature within the shaft, which had become far more tolerable than the heat outside generated by the massive pools of lava letting off their scorching heat.

Zelda crawled closer toward Mipha, taking a gander into the glass visor to find Mipha's face already having visibly found some semblance of relief, allowing her to ask softly.

"...how about now?"

The Zora took a few more panting breaths, exhausted from her maneuvering of the bulky suit, before answering with a nod, "Yeah. I think so."

Finally, Zelda thought, they had earned some rest.


	49. A Goron's Burden

"Alright," Urbosa grumbled with endless exhaustion, not a moment after the Company had plummeted into the steamy corridor of stone that sat a few feet underneath the top soil of Lake Darman, rousing Zelda from her whimsical thoughts of rest even as the Princess' limbs began to relax.

The Gerudo pushed herself to her feet, wiping ash and dust from her clothing, simply streaking black marks of char along the fabric as she sighed, "We're nowhere near finished, and we're still on a time limit. We must press on."

Revali complained, having already thrown himself to his feet in a furious attempt at remaining pristine, "Please. This darkness is an insult to the ocular prowess of us Rito."

Certainly enough, they had fallen into little more than a mine shaft, lacking all light, leaving it a mystery how far along this specific corridor scuttled through the solid rock of the mountain. Before them wore on the craggy, squared pathway that had once been excavated by Gorons long passed, though the layers of dust an ash proved how useless the tunnels had become.

"There's no threat of a cave in, is there?" Link wondered aloud, addressing Daruk, even though Revali replied initially.

"Such a stupid question to bring up only _now_!" he bit plainly.

Rolling his eyes, Link awaited the suddenly reserved voice of Daruk as it petered out, "No. Not the path we'll be taking, anyway."

Link's vision fought the darkness, hoping to catch the expression which matched such a lowly voice, but his attempt was interrupted by Mipha's attempt to raise herself up, suit and all, which caught the attention of all others. He leaned toward her, grabbing hold of her arm while Urbosa took the opposing limb, lifting the stiff body upright until Link could peer into the transparent screen of glass from within which Mipha's shining eyes met his own, not breaking for the duration of the motion.

Link could barely even bear to blink, not daring to miss a single, hair's breadth of time from which he was ever separate from those eyes.

"From the map," Zelda muttered between a vigorous sniffling, resulting from the even acrid air down within the tunnel, as well as her tearful deluge not a few minutes earlier, "We're not terribly far from the crater which Vah Rudania often rests. Though, I'm sure these underground routes are more labyrinthine than anything."

Revali scoffed at the notion, shaking his head while Mipha managed to see the silver lining of their current predicament, "Well, at least it's much more tolerable down here."

"True," Urbosa nodded, "But tolerable doesn't mean livable. Daruk, you're in front now."

She caught sight of his distressed eyes, cocking her head to the side to catch his attention, "Got it? You know these tunnels better than any of us."

Listlessly enough, Daruk nodded, "Right."

Sighing with disdain, Urbosa refused to bother the Goron any further. She was fine with a despondent Daruk so long as he was moving along with such urgency.

So he did; Daruk strolling along, shoulders heaving downward with expressed misery, perhaps simply due to his misstep nearly costing Mipha her life, Link figured. Ensuring Mipha's readiness, and ability, to follow along, the Company stretched onward into the darkness, with nary a source of light to guide them.

"Accursed-" Revali complained with a venomous air after strolling too far against the unseen wall, his skin tearing against the rocky surface, "This place is more decrepit than I once thought it to be."

He began walking with his head tilted to the side, though he still came to jolting halts as he unknowingly neared craggy portions of jutting rock.

"Just keep your eyes-" Urbosa paused, noticing his odd posture, muttering with a begrudging voice, "Is there a reason you have your head like that..?"

Revali explained simply, "I see better this way."

"You see-" Urbosa stopped short, withholding a scoff, "You know, sometimes I think most of your so-called advantages are just made up junk."

The Rito eyed her from his sideways perspective, "Keep imaging my superiority to be feigned; it merely lends me pride. However, for all of our prodigious advancements, it seems we were forced to endure some disadvantageous traits to bear as well."

"For one," he explained, just avoiding another outcropping of igneous rock, "Our eyes are better equipped for high resolution, not light gathering. Not that we _need_ such trifling attributes. Same with our near-sightedness within our lower field of vision; why worry about such measly traits? Why bother concerning ourselves with the earth below us?"

Urbosa frowned expectantly, "But the head thing."

"Merely a passing inconvenience," Revali assured critically, stumbling away from the rocky wall as his path strayed close.

"Well," quipped Urbosa, "If you need, we could tie you up to Link and he can lead you along on a leash."

"Pah!" Revali sputtered in defiance.

"Oh, come on; it wouldn't be the first time on this journey you two would be connected by a cord," Urbosa humorously supposed.

Hoping to find a similar objection from Link, Urbosa was left disappointed by the soldier's distant gaze, as if his mind weren't even upon the battle of words currently in progress between she and Revali. She failed to fret about the matter, particularly given her knowledge of him and Mipha; certainly, she understood his being shaken, but still, his despondence seemed more hearty than merely dwelling upon what had occurred moments ago.

Revali merely scoffed once again at her insinuation, instead choosing to ignore and further comment, which was fruitless in that endeavor as well, Urbosa growing silent herself while the Company patterned along deeper and deeper into the dug out series of cavernous pathways.

Darkness continued to engulf them in such gradual spurts, forcing their eyes to constantly adjust and leaving most of them in perpetual states of blindness, their pupils never able to properly gauge exactly the predicament before them. This left them with moments of pure inability to even see their hands before them, leaving Zelda's spine to shiver at the sensation; they simply strode on into the abyss, hoping not to fall into the void that matched their gaze.

They finally entered something of a wider cavern than the tunnels they had entered into, the pale light of some distant pool of magma ricocheting impotently along the walls, leaving just the faintest bit of light for them to appreciate the gift of sight once again. Even so, the added spectrum of light confused their senses even further, and the sound of sharp tearing of rocks saddened howled into the air as Zelda misplaced her step, sliding forward as her body fell backward, only for Urbosa to skillfully swoop in and break her fall with a quick grasp.

"Th- Thanks," Zelda nodded slowly, exhaustion lining her voice.

Urbosa looked her over before taking a glance toward the others, finding much the same tire lining their faces. She straightened herself and Zelda before patting the palms of her hands together, taking the initiative.

"Alright. We're stopping to rest," she commanded lowly, "Our quick pace has earned us as much."

A scornful glare met her by way of Link, who wasn't ready to stop until they were safe, though Urbosa turned away before assuring, "We're ahead of schedule by a few hours, after all."

"Gah. Rest in _this_ acrid air?" Revali sputtered, despite him bending down to ready a blanket that he could sit upon.

Link turned toward Mipha, catching only a glimpse of mechanism, still not used to turning peer into her glass screen, before helping her sit down as well, reaching into her ruck sack attentively.

"You good?" he asked.

She nodded.

"You don't need any water? or more gel, or-?"

Smirking, she nodded again.

"I'm fine," she assured, earning a groan from Link as he dropped his head toward his chest.

Sighing, Link relieved himself of concern while sitting down beside her, his feet filling with the sensation of blood-rush as though having walked non-stop for days. He dropped his head with tire, his arms following suit as she fell between his widened legs, allowing him to drop his body low, seeking any sort of relief for his now-aching muscles. He could tell the lack of oxygen within these shadowy tunnels was forcing his body to churn along with less and less fuel.

He took some solace in the murmuring of the others as they all attempted to find rest of their own. Urbosa's voice spouted predominantly, but he took note of Zelda's own, reserved tone, along with Revali's complaining whispers to himself, which made itself known simply by virtue of the small enclosure's echoing perimeter. His brow cocked in realization as he failed to recognize Daruk, usually the most boisterous of them all, though he supposed he was still feeling rather torn from the events of a few moments ago.

Sure enough, working up the strength to peer toward the others, Link found Daruk noticeably apart from them, resting alone with his own shoulders slumped in visible down trod; given the Gorons' inability to feel much of anything in the way of exhaustion, it left very little to Link's imagination what that posture signaled.

"I didn't expect it to be so dark," Mipha murmured quietly, her mechanical body contorting in menial movements as she examined the surroundings, "Even in the deepest waters- I can't remember ever being so devoid of the sun's light."

Link shrugged, "All the more evident why nothing can live down here, I suppose. Add in a dash of magma- Only death can be found here."

His eyes raised as he turned to take a glance toward Mipha, taking care to lean forward enough to see beyond her visor, "Are you-"

"I'm _sure_," she confirmed in interruption.

Shrugging, Link merely surmised, "When I was drowning underwater, it was all you could do to make certain _I_ was alright."

"Apples and cabbages," Mipha noted wryly, noting the difference in situations, "Ironically, I'm more worried about the one of us best adapted for this journey."

Link questioned, "Who, Daruk?"

"He's been silent ever since we got here," noted Mipha with a weakened breath, "I suspected he felt terrible about that bout of misinformation, but-"

Her voice trailed off for a moment before finding itself with a low air once more, "This entire time- I've always looked up to him. I could always count on him, of all people, to- you know."

"Keep everyone's spirits up, yeah," Link shrugged, reminded of Daruk's own boast on their way up here, "He puts on a positive front, but- There's a lot behind his smile that he's spent far too much time keeping concealed."

Mipha eyes him cautiously, "How do you mean?"

Leaning back to rest easier, Link bit his lip tentatively before revealing, "Gorons don't have written histories, but they do share many legends and tales by word of mouth. So _many_ of those involve the ideals that most all Gorons know, and understand, to be what makes them explicitly "Goron", right? Stuff like their heartiness, their natural strength- Some of them are things simply attributed to them by the Goddesses when they were first formed from rock."

"I understand," Mipha confirmed, "I suppose not living up to those expectations _would_ cause some distress, but- He doesn't need to be at 100% at all times, at least not around us."

Link turned to her, "It's not simply this journey, it's-"

His lips coiled in examination, mulling over his words, weighing them against the adoration and trust he'd built up with the woman before him, before speaking quietly, "It's his entire life."

Mipha's brow furrowed curiously as Link eyed Daruk from afar, "How many Goron heroes do you know?"

She pondered over the question before wondering aloud, "I- That is-…"

"Not many, if not a single one," Link nodded slowly, "It's partially due to their general gentleness, but even when you listen to so many of their tales- So often, they're relegated simply to auxiliary roles, appearing only to the side of other heroes. There's never a story about a Goron, themself, for all their brawn and resilience, taking center stage and defending this world they so gallantly deem theirs to be defended."

"Daruk is the best among them," Link quietly surmised, "If he can't make a mark, not only for himself, but for all of his people- If he can't carve their names into history, then who can?"

He shrugged, "At least, that's how _he_ feels."

Mipha turned her head up to glance toward Daruk's weakened posture, frowning sadly for her friend as Link went on, "He has the weight of history upon his shoulders. For all his brightness and humor- I do get concerned, oftentimes, that it all isn't as much for himself as for us."

"Makes his father's words that much more of a sting," Link grinned with ironic dismay, "Mere stone can't survive the eons."

Her eyes still cast sadly atop Daruk's silhouette, Mipha slowly turned further to her side at the sound of displaced rubble, signaling the arrival of Zelda's immensely darkened frame, lit only by the softened glimmer of orange-red hues lining the shadowy walls.

"Sorry to interrupt," she admitted quietly, hoping not to disturb the others' rest, "We, uh- We should really add another coat of gel, I think. Just to be safe."

Despite her intense wanting to refuse, Mipha could find the wailing silence in Zelda's voice- the Princess desperate to be doing something, _anything_, to help out in some, even ineffable, way. The Zora nodded within her suit, even if it meant nothing to Zelda, before signaling her agreement with her body rising to its feet.

"Alright," she replied, seeking some levity as she smirked toward Link, "No boys allowed when a lady's undressing."

Link's brow curled as he turned toward them, "It's not-"

"Ah!" Mipha demanded with a giggle, pushing his head away before it could find her, "Nice try."

The small, smarmy exchange at least gave rise to a soft giggle from Zelda, though it led Link to his own, ragged groan as he rose to his feet, patting off the grime from his breeches, "Alright, alright. I'll go hunt for oxygen over _here_, then."

Leaving behind a pair of soft, uncertain giggles, Link cursed under his breath as his steps continued their uneasy, bedraggled gait he had yet to grow accustomed to. The small stint of rest only made the craggy ground's reappearance that much more noticeable, and he could barely drag himself hobbling closer toward Daruk, lazily falling into an adjoining seated position beside the Goron man.

"Goddess," he breathed with exhaustion, "You know, I kind of miss the sandiness of the desert now."

Daruk remained silent in his downtrodden posture.

With a frown, Link turned toward him, "Look, Brother- Are you alright? You just don't seem as- I don't know, as _chipper_ as usual."

The Goron raised his head, allowing his eyes to peer sidelong toward Link, "_Chipper_."

His back raised as he sat up, patting his knees with his massive paws of hands, "How worthless can somebody be before that chippiness becomes mere incessance?"

Daruk's hands gripped his knees with a furious grasp, "For all my inadequacies along the way to this very point-"

He slammed a thumb into his chest as he stared at Link, "I nearly got someone _killed_. _Killed_!"

"Daruk," Link confirmed, "It wasn't your-"

"Pah. _Wasn't_ _my_ _fault_," he grumbled, shaking his head as he returned his glance to the soil below, "It was _my_ plan. _My_ mistake. Yet it was somebody else's blood on the line."

Link leaned back, "Look, I know you're frustrated with yourself. But you must understand- No one's blaming you."

"Well they should start," Daruk frowned angrily, "Outskirt Stable, I nearly get your head kicked in. Zora's Domain, I can't even protect _you_ from nearly dying, much less this entire troupe. At Robbie's, I was nothing but a blight upon this very land."

"Now _this_," he confirmed in scathing resignation, "All that _chippiness_\- Nothing but me seeking some worth when I've _nothing_ to offer."

Caught between Daruk's insistence, and indeed, his own exhaustion, Link hadn't a word to say as he sat there. He swallowed a mighty lump in his throat as his mind thought uncertainly, never the one to console anyone, at least not Daruk. He kicked his feet along the ashen dust that lined the interior of the mountain, biting his tongue as Daruk's frustration seeped into the very air surrounding them despite his silence.

"You're not worthless," Link assured, even without much consideration, yet his words remained as sincere as he knew possible, "There will come a time when you'll understand that."

Daruk shook his head mutely, not wanting to allow Link to notice the motion- his politeness shining through even now. Even if he knew the Hylian was wrong.

"You're more than stone, remember?"

A dark chuckle escaped Daruk this time, though he quickly dismissed any form of levity as he murmured, "Yeah, right."

Before Link had to battle further with reply, Urbosa's voice arose, charging the air around them as though her zealous leadership lent electricity to the atmosphere, "Alright, that's enough rest. We're still on a time limit. Mipha's newly plastered, we've had a quick rest- time to press on."

"_Plastered_," Link shot in the dark, "You make her sound drunk or something."

Urbosa assured, "Plastered in the 'painting dyes on rock walls' sense, of course."

A laugh left Mipha as she added, "I sure hope so; we Zora can't get drunk."

The Gerudo shot her a worrisome glance, answering sarcastically, "You poor soul."

"One of our older insults when it came to Hylians, actually," explained Mipha wryly, "Was that they only bothered to swim when it was through troughs of alcohol."

Revali couldn't help but release a jolting laugh, "Pff- Pah!"

"How barbaric!" Zelda asserted, the jovial air helping her mood as well, "I mean, I know of uncles who might imbibe in such things, but-…"

Link smirked, "Well, when this is all over, we'll find a trough and try it out ourselves. Sounds more refreshing than anything else at this point, but- I'm just getting in touch with my Hylian roots, I suppose."

"Pshaw!" Revali scoffed in amusement, "I do not doubt it!"

"Hey now," Link gestured toward him, "We're getting _you_ in there, too."

Suddenly, Revali's face contorted into one of disgust, "I _beg_ your pardon?! Why, I'd never-!"

"Zelda, too," Urbosa quickly rang out, throwing her arm around her little bird's shoulders and pulling her in close, "I do believe she's grown up enough for a taste."

Zelda frowned, "H- How childish do you think I am?! I've-! I've had alcohol before!"

"Oh, really?" Urbosa mused with amusement.

"Y- Yeah!" Zelda insisted, though quickly quieting into a verbal shell, "Of course…"

Urbosa inquired further, "What did you try? Some beer, or-?"

"Some wine!" Zelda immediately retorted, though sadly checked herself with, "…even if I poured it out after a single sip."

"Bah ha ha!" Urbosa laughed, pulling Zelda lovingly into her side, "Alright, come now, child. Let's get a move on. No talk of celebrations until _after_ we've accomplished our goals, alright?"

Nodding, Link agreed, "Right."

Even amongst something of a lightened atmosphere, Daruk trailed along, sauntering softly into the mountain, wondering if what Link had said were true. Perhaps his time were just around the corner, despite all of his faults so far.

Still, he couldn't imagine such a thing. His heart remained as dark as the silhouetted hallways of rough rock they now continued down.


	50. A Leap of Faith

The Company moved with a trudging gait through the mountain, stepping into tunnels of varying roughness, attributed to the massive slabs of limestone, bedrock, and whatever other materials the Gorons of old had ground through with little more than their own hands. Even with the overwhelming presence of danger looming overhead, Zelda couldn't help but take in a particular sense of awe as she examined the endless ventilation shaft that constantly surrounded them.

"Exactly how much longer must we traverse these labyrinthine corridors?" Revali suddenly complained lowly, "Surely it's been a few hours by this point in time."

Daruk quietly retorted with dry emotion, "When we arrive, we'll have arrived."

"Pah! What a droning answer."

Urbosa fronted, "And, yet, it's the correct answer. Just suck it up like the rest of us are."

"Then allow me the pleasure of voicing the _dis_pleasure felt by the lot of us," Revali seethed, "My feathers are starting to singe."

Link looked over his shoulder, muttering with smarmy resolve, "Any caverns coming up that we can toss him down..?"

"You'd find that tremendously fortunate enough, wouldn't you, Hylian?"

Link frowned, "It'd make this excursion so very worth it."

"Boys, come on," Zelda complained overtop the two's conversation, "There's enough here for us all to endure. Just- find something to take your mind off everything and it'll help the time pass."

Revali complained, sputtering, "My relishing in this Hylian's boorish and accusatory behavior was serendipitous enough in its method of passing time."

"Thinking of _his_ folly was keeping my mind off things, as well," Link confirmed with a lowly sarcastic tone.

Trudging along with ever-weakening strides, Zelda's head forward as her hands covered her face, anguished in her resignation as she grumbled, "Goddess, they're right…"

"I'd recommend trying it for yourself," Link shrugged.

Zelda fired back, "I'm to do _no_ such thing! And if the two of you don't learn to behave, regardless, you're both going down the first cavern we see; got it?!"

"Just another mile," Daruk quietly murmured, "or fifteen."

Urbosa's lips flared up into a skeptical curl, "That's quite the range, there."

Shrugging, Daruk's reply came, "Keeps me accurate, still."

"I mean, if it were prophecy, I'd think a large range isn't indicative of one's accuracy, but-" Urbosa challenged without consideration, stopping only underneath Zelda's scrutinizing glance.

"Urbosa," she reminded, "Daruk is the one of us who knows these tunnels better than any of us. So long as it's within reasonable bounds, I haven't a problem with some variance. So much of history is subject to much the same, you know."

Link frowned, "Well, I'd rather _us_ not become history, either."

Shooting him a pithy glance, Zelda curled her lips in thought as silence overtook the Company once again, the lot of them left with nothing more than their thoughts as they attempted to bring up other topics of consideration for their minds to busy themselves with besides the current landscape of incinerating air.

As their feet slid tiredly across broken pebbles that rested upon their ground, it broke the silence only with the scattering sound of rolling gravel, until the sickly violent shout of Zelda's voice flew through the air life a firework. Her foot had caught a loose stone and sent her careening forward, with only a split second allowing her to release such a piercing sound as surprise overwhelmed her, just before her quick flash of darkness finally brought her to the searing pain of slamming face-first into the ground.

"Zelda!" Urbosa cried out, quickly taking to the ground, along with Link, to find the young woman, who had gone silent except for an anguished piddling of crying gasps as Zelda weakly pushed herself up.

"I-" she managed, struggling to speak as her thoughts ran into thankfulness at being concealed in darkness, "I'm- fine."

She felt hands patting her back to find her before blindly scurrying to her arms to help her up, Link's voice breaking through the darkness, "You're not hurt, are you?"

"Don't think so," she spoke up quietly, feeling the warmth of blood trickling down her face, a shaking timbre lining her voice, "Sorry."

Urbosa found them, taking Zelda's other arm as if merely to join Link in helping her, though her deep, powerful tone was a quick respite from the agonizing woe that Zelda had been caught up in, "I've told you once, child. I'm officially putting a culling order on apologies until we're out of here, alright?"

"I think you mean embargo," Zelda offered.

She could even hear Urbosa's smile in the darkness, "Well, you've time to show your smartass side, so you can't have been shaken _too_ severely. C'mon. I think the others have gone on. Need me to carry you?"

"Absolutely not!" Zelda ejected in a shout, though by now, it only echoed impotently along the darkened walls.

Shrugging, Urbosa pulled away for only a moment before hearing the scuttling sound of Zelda's foot dragging along the ground, immediately returning to the young woman's arm, "Alright, you're limping. You're coming-"

"N- No!" Zelda fired back, pulling herself away and suddenly into Link's shoulder, "I- won't have myself carried like a child. Nobody else here has resigned to such a thing, so-"

Urbosa frowned, torn between Zelda's passioned rejection and her own need to care for this young woman. It was those same pangs that had traveled alongside her heart ever since taking up the mantle of this child's surrogate mother. The Gerudo simply groaned, releasing Zelda from her grasp before crossing her arms, voicing her displeasure nonetheless.

"If there were _ever_ an appropriate time…" she noted heatedly, as though upset at her proposal having gone rejected.

Despite her impassioned rejection, Zelda was equally happy to have Link silently helping her along as she was thrilled for the darkness to be concealing his role, allowing her to reply with a bit of wryness in her voice, "There's never an appropriate time for a Princess."

"Yeah, once more for those in the back," Urbosa smirked as the three of them worked their way forward in the same frail gait in time with Zelda.

By the time they had caught up the few paces to the others, they had come to a full stop, leaving a pile-up of bodies before a small doorway-like entrance into a cavernous pit. At the fore of the group, Daruk stood at the edge of their trail, which in an instant had vanished into an immediate decline straight down into the earth. His eyes had been scanning the environment as best he could, frowning in realization.

"Now what's the hold up?!" Revali sputtered angrily.

Daruk replied uneasily, "We'll have to jump."

"Pardon?" Urbosa perked up.

Scooting to the side to allow the others a chance to look, Daruk answered, "This portion of the tunnel must have collapsed during an earthquake of some kind. It continues over there."

Sure enough, as Urbosa stepped ahead to examine the situation, they had found themselves in a crevasse-like chamber of sorts, their current pathway almost torn from existence before reemerging across the chasm, not ten feet away. The Gerudo stepped back, taking stock of the Company for a moment before turning toward Daruk.

"I don't have to point out the obvious flaw, do I?"

The Goron shrugged, "We'll just have to throw her across."

Mipha's eyes went wide with astonishment.

Urbosa groaned, having just been told about Princesses and such activities, before turning toward the Zora encased in mechanism, muttering weakly, "Well?"

"I- I mean- If I must," Mipha spoke up, embarrassed.

The Gerudo shrugged, turning to Revali, "Well, we've brought a Zora up here only to see one fly. I think she's quickly running the table with the Rito."

"Tch," Revali scoffed as though in a cringe, "You wish.

Daruk braced himself against the wall, "Enough idle chatter. Come on. Urbosa first."

The Gerudo nodded, recognizing the beginnings of Daruk's plan. She wiped her hands free from any debris as she crouched down, readying herself while locating the opposing pathway in the ever-encroaching darkness. With a three step sprint, she charged into the humid air, lunging her body through the air before sending a massive *SCCHHH* into the air as her feet slid atop loose gravel, the chasm having been successfully challenged by her.

She spun around, viewing the others through slit eyes, "Alright. Mipha next."

Daruk nodded, turning to find Mipha already working her way up toward his grasp. Link's brow narrowed determinately as he watched the scene play out, his breathing slowing into choking bites for air as his focus so greatly rested upon Mipha's obstacle. The Goron wrapped his arms around the Guardian-like mechanism that housed Mipha, his eyes remaining locked on the opposing end of the chasm, watching Urbosa get into position to receive the immense body of weight.

Taking a lunging step to bring himself some momentum, Daruk let loose a massive, booming roar as his entire weight spun around like a snake launching itself, "WOAAAAAAAAARHHH!"

In an instant, he released the cargo, sending Mipha's massive weight flying only barely through the air. She careened in such a piddling arc, Urbosa's eyes went wide in terror as the body suit only barely made it, its midsection slamming into the edge of the path before immediately sliding away, down into the chasmic depths. Urbosa let loose a curse before slamming a foot into the ground to anchor herself, taking hold of Mipha's slow-slipping body and yanking with a horrid groan.

"MIPHA!" Link cried out in terror.

He lunged closer toward his own chasmic edge as Urbosa clearly struggled with the weight of Guardian technology bursting the earthen cliffside, barreling through the air as he made his own leap across, finagling his footwork to come to a halt in the minute space between Urbosa and the wall before spinning around and crouching against her to find his own grip.

"C'mon-!" he demanded to nobody in particularly as his strained voice broke through his heavy grunting, "C'MON!"

His muscles, already weakened due to lack of oxygen, cried out in pained bursts of aches that rushed throughout his body, but he pressed on without another thought, forcing his body backward as he and Urbosa just began to make headway. The massive suit began a slow, anguishing ascent as the two growled in heated breaths, desperate to keep Mipha aloft until, finally, the suit broke the plane of gravity, coming to rest horizontal atop the craggy earth.

Link and Urbosa fell backward, just able to keep themselves from lying down entirely, as they took gasping breaths, Link shaking his head at the crises that had just been averted. He surveyed the landscape through sunken eyes, dropping his head against his chest all while his body convulsed in revolt against his strenuous activity.

"Goddess," Urbosa exclaimed through her ravenous series of panting breaths.

She pushed herself upward, fighting lethargy, knowing that to pause now would be to quit. She reached out a hand toward the others, waving them along.

"Alright," she fought, "Revali. Get your feathered ass over here."

He grimaced, fluffing up his plumage in preparation for flight , "I oughta let you know that-"

"No flying," Link commanded, earning him a scornful stare from the Rito.

"I _beg_ your pardon!"

Link shook his head, huffing out breaths like a churning machine, "You've run into every possible slab on the way down here. No way are you gonna take _flight_ down here."

Sputtering with disgust, Revali turned away his ruffled plumage, frowning as he instead stepped up toward the craggy edge, whispering spouting curses beneath his breaths. He grabbed hold of either side of the tunneling entrance of their pathway before throwing himself forward, leaping rather gracefully across the gap and into the waiting arms of Urbosa and Link, from which he could not escape from soon enough.

"Unhand me, knaves!" he cried, throwing his shoulders forward in an attempt to conceal his arms, "Had I required you help-!"

"Without our help, you'd be halfway to hell!" Link shouted.

Revali charged back with insult, causing Urbosa's head to drop in exhaustion, her mind having already undertaken all that it could when it came to withstanding such onslaughts between the other two.

Across the gap, where only Zelda and Daruk remained, the Princess watched with renewed vigor as she studied the distance, wanting desperately to claim such a victory on her own. Despite Link and Revali's continued bickering, Urbosa shook her head, releasing a tired sigh before reaching out to Zelda, waving for her to cross as well.

"Alright," she muttered breathlessly, "Daruk? You'll catch her if she falls, right?"

Zelda's brow tensed, "I won't-!"

Daruk nodded, silencing Zelda with a blank frown. She shook off their apprehensive as she stepped a few paces backward. Wiping fresh blood from her cheek, her hand strode across her trousers before she slowly convulsed in place, readying g her muscles for a moment before sprinting, pell-mell, toward the edge, a echoing stomp leaving her silent as she launched herself into the air, careening forth for what seemed like an hour before her feet slammed against the soft earth across from the end of their previous passage.

"Ta- AAAAH!" she cried as excitement immediately drowned into terror, the ground nearest the edge melting into a crumbling mass, distressed as it was from Mipha's earlier, furtive approach.

As gravity overtook her, her instincts burst into action like pistons, her arms flailing out for anything they could for something, anything, to cling onto.

"ZELDA!" Urbosa screamed in tremoring fright, launching herself toward the edge as her daughter flailed.

In the briefest of moments, Zelda's hand managed a desperate grasp upon something of an anchor point, keeping her aloft for but a single moment before losing all sense of relief. Her eyes caught sight of the sheath of Link's sword, torn away from the soldier's back as Zelda's weight unraveled the Divine instrument, though even in her terror, Zelda's arms continued their intense swatting, her spinal cord betraying all reverence in favor of survival.

Urbosa snatched her wrist from its zero-gravity motion in a split second, though any sense of relief was lost on Zelda. Her head whipped around her shoulder, watching helplessly as the Master Sword descended lifelessly into the darkness.

With a brush of ozone, as if Daruk's breath were rushing past her, the mighty Goron's body screamed through the air at a noticeably lower angle than the others, arm outstretched to grasp the Sword before it were lost forever.

Daruk's mind was awash. _This_ was his moment.

He threw out his hand, his fingers slamming against the hilt of the weapon, sending its momentum eschew.

Daruk's heart sank.

"Noo!" Zelda cried out in terrified recognition.

The next sound they heard was Daruk's body slamming into an outcropping of earth noticeably lower than they, though, as if in hopeful timber, not a moment later, the sound of the Master Sword slamming into rock echoed along.

All was not lost.

Link peered beneath their current position, down the ever-darkened vertical slope that surrounded them, desperate for any signs of life from Daruk.

"Daruk!" he shouted vigorously, "DARUK!"

A distant sort of coughing arose.

"I'm fine," was all the Goron offered.

Link's brow tensed with worry. He turned to the others as Urbosa wrangled Zelda in, the lot of then visibly concerned, even Revali.

As if sensing their distress, Daruk's listless voice returned, "Keep going. It shouldn't be too difficult from here, just-"

A pause, one heart wrenching as Link recounted their conversation in his head.

"I'll get the Sword," Daruk assured.

Urbosa watched Zelda curiously, the Hylian Princess now riddled with shivering skin, having encountered such distress.

"What do we do?" she asked in a whisper, wholly out of character, demonstrating even her uncertainty.

Too overcome with the bevy of emotions fluttering throughout her body, Zelda remained stagnant, leaving her-

"We move on," Link suddenly ordered.

Urbosa grit her teeth, "We _can't_ just _leave_ the-!"

"Yes we can," Link retorted in a heated breath, "Daruk will retrieve it. He knows this place better than any of us, _and_ we're still on a time crunch."

His eyes matched with Mipha's for a brief moment, like two stars lined up in alignment for only a split second in time.

Her prolonged silence said more than any words could about her current state.

"We move on," Link repeated, more authoritative as he hiked up his backpack, now loose-fitting without the Sword at his back.

Urbosa watched him warily. Still, without any more goading, Mipha turned to follow the soldier, followed in line by Revali, despite a underwhelming scoff. Watching Zelda's bedraggled face, so worn beyond the poor girl's years, Urbosa felt her heart tear only slightly as the Princess pulled away, head dropped in sorrow as she followed along behind the others.

Taking a deep breath herself, Urbosa took one final glance down the seemingly-endless chasm they were now departing. For all the trust Link exhibited, she couldn't help but feel a pang of distress. a pang of terror.

That they might not ever see that Sword again. They'd never see Daruk again.

* * *

Daruk's fists curled into fingered boulders as he lay there, face first, tears swelling up along his face as frustration, pity, and anguish overwhelmed him. His body jolted irrhythmically as he lay there, crying, having sent the others off without him, leaving him the sole recipient of all the failures he had exhibited. He felt his face begin to strain as his tears only served to bring aches and pains to his cheeks, forcing him to push himself up, running and forearm across his eyes as he took a prolonged breath.

Despite a moment of forced relief, his teeth barred angrily as he lifted his balled fist, throwing it into the ground with a thundering punch, its tremors offering him only brief Company until, once again, his choking, tearful breaths were all that kept him from true desolation.

He shook his head in disbelief, covering his face ashamedly as he slowly, troublingly, returned to the ledge's end, glancing into the cosmic fissure that had now swallowed the Master Sword, of all relics, due to his impotence.

Daruk knew, all too well, what such a thing meant, if only to his Sworn Brother of all people.

Finding no will to move, he could only find strength in that fact, alone. He had to make amends, no matter the cost.

Such things were expected of all Gorons, he knew. Even worthless ones. Even mere stones.

With little care, he meandered down the sheer rock face, with little more than the hope of an easy retrieval.

He hadn't a clue that this act, alone, wouldn't be what his Goron brothers would one day sing his praises in recollection.


	51. Not Merely Stone

Heat began to lightly swelt at the Company's skin as they progressed ever-closer toward the crater of Death Mountain where, if luck allowed, Vah Rudania would be near enough to allow something of an oblong audience with them. Without Daruk to guide them, they were left with little more than rushed directions, though the gradual rise in heat offered an intense clue that they were advancing properly.

Exhaustion, lethargy, a host of terms to describe the tire growing endlessly within the lot of them failed to properly reside within Zelda's mind as best she tried. Even her mind had begun to fight for rest, joining her legs and feet in their attempts to wrest away control from the Princess' desperation to continue, as much as for Mipha's sake, as well as her own. She wanted this to end.

As the darkness surrounding them began to subside, a glimmer of hope accompanied the orange-painted walls they now trekked down, though Link, who had continued to lead the troupe, advanced with caution, knowing better than to relinquish care now that they had gotten so far.

Their craggy trail had long been enclosed, however, they had come to an outcropping, the rock-wall to their left having been torn away from the stone of the mountain, leaving them only a thin ledge to tread above a massive pit below where magma covered the landscape as though they were atop the edge of a massive dome.

Link stepped carefully onto the ledge, examining the area below for a moment before returning to the others, speaking lowly, "Watch your step."

Despite the broad declaration, his eyes came to Mipha, knowing her treads were far from narrow within her suit. He reached over to take her hand, abandoning his forward pursuit as he stepped backward, guiding her along as her glance remained glued onto her feet, simply wrestling with the suit's odd mechanics to keep her feet in line.

Revali plodded along next, his inability to release pithy replies indicative of his own exhaustion, followed by Zelda, and then Urbosa, taking the final spot on the off-chance that she needed to considering anything drastic to rescue one of the others. The Company slowly wired along the ledge, even as sweltering gusts of magma-heated gusts slid atop their skin, forcing Link to alternate hands as he wiped sweat from whichever one had been clasped atop Mipha's mechanized clutch.

Behind them, Zelda began to stumble forward, her feet gradually resigning themselves, forcing Urbosa to reach over to grab her shoulder, ensuring her upright posture.

"Watch yourself," she noted quietly.

Zelda nodded, "I know."

Frowning, Urbosa went on, "I _know_ you know. I'm just saying it."

Zelda didn't catch the humor, focused as she was on keeping stride with the others. She simply advanced listlessly, feet scooting across the rocky earth beneath them, her mind carelessly meandering from its current realm of being. Her throat felt painted with sand at how dry it had become, her nostrils stinging with every inhalation. Even her eyes grew chapped, tinged with irritation as she blinked.

Her mind carried her away, back to home. Back to anywhere other than this place. Zora's Domain, even, seemed so much like a paradise in comparison. Whatever trials they had overcome to get here, for a moment, she felt more prepared to challenge them a million times over if it meant somehow escaping from this place. From this-

"Tch. Kitck. Kwaawr~"

Zelda's mind snapped back into place as her eyes carried down toward the magma flows beneath them. They stood a good fifty yards above the supposed ground level of the domed cavern, yet she could glance worryingly through the hazy steam that carried upward. A boorish force slammed into her as she unknowing walked into Revali, the Rito having paused, though he immediately spun his head over his shoulder with a scolding, piercing stare.

"_Excuse_ me, Princess," he frowned.

Zelda returned to the magma flow, "Y- You heard that, didn't you?"

"Hear _what_?" he demanded to know, "I've been caught up thinking how best to celebrate my return to Tabantha _in_ _solitude_ once this mess is over and done with. Then the brute up there stopped and-"

"You heard it?" Zelda spoke up louder, peeking over Revali's side to find Link glancing down into the mountain cavity himself, brow furrowed forward in examination.

He only nodded, though Zelda felt Urbosa's tug at her shoulder, the Gerudo muttering quietly, "I caught wind of it myself. It sounded-"

"Not like the mountain," Zelda finished, earning her a nod from Urbosa.

Link's forced gaze slowly released as he returned his attention back to Mipha, picking up their advance once again, allowing the Company to progress at its menial speed. Still, Zelda remained fascinated by the cavern below, her eyes glued to the landscape as Urbosa guided her steps, trying to ascertain what had made such a noise. It sounded unnatural- that is, something biological as opposed to everything they had heard up to this point. From rocks clattering, to magma bubbling and churning.

It sounded-

"Kitck kwaawr."

Her eyes snapped open as she reached over to take a desperate hold onto Urbosa's arm, covering a gasp with her free arm as a skittering creature scattered across a narrow pit of rock like an illuminated cockroach desperate for concealment.

"Ur- Urbosa!" Zelda haltingly spoke up in a fright.

The Gerudo pulled her arm away as the Princess' fingernails dug into her skin, "Gah! Child! S- Stop! What's the-!"

"I just saw it!" she spoke up in a stifled cry, "A lanmola!"

Urbosa frowned, shooting a scathing glance at Zelda, though before dismissing the young woman's words outright, she peered up to find Link gazing down once again, his own face turned with distress.

"Oh, come now!" Revali shouted, "Just move alon-!"

"Hush!" Link interrupted, slamming a finger to his lips for emphasis, returning his attention to the cavern below, "I saw it too."

Urbosa kicked some dirt away underfoot, "By the goddess, you two; that was just some story Daruk told to frighten us."

A moment passed before Link caught her eyes with his own, speaking plainly, "Some stories are based in truth."

Knowing such a truth to be applicable to Gerudo Desert's own tales, Urbosa groaned as she rolled her eyes, shaking her head without further argument.

"We're quiet from here on out," Link ordered, "We're not about to attract unwanted attention."

Without waiting for a collective answer, Link carried on, still with unbearable caution as he guided Mipha along, the Company slowing pressing on as they passed the halfway segment of the outcropping, leaving them near the next enclosed portion of their path. With the arising threat of enemies, a powerful rush of energy now filled Zelda, if only due to her body's recognition of a threat afoot. Her eyes, once constantly weak with tire, now remained wide open as she kept her stare on the cavern below, praying to never see another of those wretched beasts again.

* * *

Once within the safe confines of the wholly encapsulated vent once again, Link pulled his hand away from Mipha as he bent over, grasping his knees as he took a breather while the others braced themselves on the walls to find some relief. His voice came out a choking, raspy whisper.

"Alright. We can't be that far," he noted.

Urbosa glanced up toward him, "Do we rest?"

Such a question brought a pang of uncertainty to Link's chest, wary of his new supposed position as something of a leader. He felt something of discomfort, though, instead of worrying about his answer, he simply took a look at Mipha through her suit's visor.

Her eyes, half closed, crusted all around from the gekari gel that had begun to solidify in the heat. Her mouth hung open weakly, and Link could tell just how irregular her breathing was becoming. Mipha couldn't even verbalize, her mind caught deadlocked simply focusing on her next breath, the next breath, the next.

Link shook his head, "No. We're almost there."

"Bah," Revali scoffed, arms crossed, rolling his head along his shoulders, "You know nothing. We could be hours on, still."

Link dropped his shoulders, peering exhaustively toward Revali as the Rito continued, "We're simply going to march on until we _die_ at this rate. Even the Zora- She needs time to take a breath, does she not?"

Staring unwaveringly at Revali, Link slowly turned his gaze back toward Mipha, finding little answer in her face.

Urbosa spoke up as she stepped forward.

"We've got-" she muttered, hunting through her pack, "-one canteen more than expected."

She offered, amidst a critically dour stare from Link, "Look, it's cooled down. We'll take a moment to rest- Maybe get some water in that suit of hers; it can only help, right?"

Link took a breath, swallowing a tense breath of air as he locked back in onto Mipha. Her eye met his, but- They were clouded, as if she were merely a mannequin simply turned his direction. There was no soul within; she had merely become a shell within a shell, her mind having already gone dormant due to exhaustion.

"A-" Link choked out, "Alright."

His heart tugged. These were the decisions he knew himself to be unfit for. The reason he knew never to lead, but to follow.

He saw his mother in those empty eyes.

Urbosa quickly leapt into action, making her way toward Mipha as she threw the canteen's strap onto her shoulder and helping Mipha against the wall. She ran her palms atop the helmet of the machine, having recalled Robbie's own direction, finding a valve there that she pushed against, forcing pressure inside the artificial atmosphere within that ultimately pushed the visor of the helmet to a swinging opening. Urbosa lifted the glass as she raised the canteen up, carefully pouring it into the device.

"This isn't going to wash the gel off, is it?" she questioned.

Zelda sauntered over, answering breathlessly, "I'm not sure we have the time to consider that possibility."

As the two tended to Mipha, Link fell against the rocky wall and slid down into a seated position, dropping his head against his chest as he battled for breaths himself.

What if they _shouldn't_ have stopped? What if he'd made the wrong decision?

His mind was only racked with such viscerally embattled thoughts for only a moment, however, the very thoughts in his head quieted as his body slowly descended into aching rest as he sat there. He knew it to be a bad decision to allow his muscles the time to tense up in refusal, but he hadn't much of a thought at all during his reverie.

Even without Mipha before him, he could see her. Despite his mind failing to recall much of anything, he did remember _her_. As though in a matter of survival, his mind recalled their nights together; his skin tingling at the thought of Mipha's taut skin, so delicately smooth with only the shimmering rough-hewn tinge of velvety scales. He could nearly feel her chilled touch upon him, burning him amidst the sweltering heat that actually surrounded him.

His eyes closed, deepening that vision upon him. He could see her above him, that night they had shared a bed, running her hands against chest; the contrast between her touch and the heat of the blankets only magnified her icy fingertips, swirling in wintry burst into his body, nearly into his heart. He so desperately wanted to hold her once more. Not simply to save himself from the heat now consuming him, but to have her safe, as well.

Link felt his mind grow aflutter. He didn't know if it was sleep that threatened his conscious, or something more sinister. As though in a death-knell, he understood the folly of closing his eyes, and yet- He didn't much care.

Flirting with danger, for but one more second experiencing everything he had ever loved to dearly in his life.

He didn't much-

"Stupid little-" Revali's voice suddenly appeared in a blisteringly scathing critique, forcing Link's eyes open.

He heard footsteps, before a particularly violent kick slammed into his thigh, Revali's voice bursting into his ear much closer than it had been, "Now, get up then! Ten minutes is quite enough; I'm getting antsy!"

"Antsy," Link groaned, shaking his head.

Frowning, Revali charged, "What of it, you wretch?! Come on!"

Urbosa suddenly replied as Link worked his way to his feet, "We'll be up in a moment. I think it's doing her well."

"Nah ah!" Revali clicked in an oddly informal manner, "You three remain. This one and I are gonna scout ahead while you tend to the fish woman."

Groaning with aching breaths, Link muttered in confusion, "Scouting ahead?"

"Well!" Revali decried with concealed shock, "You said, yourself, did you not? There are creatures about! We best make sure we remain as confined as possible from them, should we not?"

Rather impressed by Revali's foresight, Link couldn't help but shrug in compliance as he stood up straight, "I suppose you have a point there. besides that one on your face, anyway."

Sneering at Link's attempt at levity, Revali grumbled angrily to himself as he scooted along, leaving Link behind to take a final glance back toward the others. Still tending to Mipha, Urbosa kept her back turned, but Zelda managed a frigid stare toward Link, a look which Link couldn't decipher in that moment. Miffed, knowing to ask would accomplish little, Link turned away, stopping only once Zelda's voice rang out.

"W- Wait!" she spoke up, reaching around to grab the knight's sword that hung from her back, "Won't you need-!"

Link swatted the air, shaking his head weakly, "You wanted to protect your Company, right? You _do_ need a sword for that."

Zelda's face grew dark as she watched Link sadly turning away, sauntering along like an aged horse, his voice echoing softly, "Daruk will bring me my own. Soon enough."

As dark as their situation had become, Zelda couldn't help but feel guilty at the doubt creeping up within her.

* * *

The two of them strode along through the massive Goron vent, cautiously enough, even through the series of curses Revali would let loose under his breath in reply to some thought that had crossed his mind. Link had wanted to point it out in some haphazard attempt at an insult, though such things took a toll on his already-diminished bodily energy, and he ultimately thought against it. Instead, he remained quiet for most of their path, the two of them having gone about half a mile down the tunnel before anything of interest appeared.

The tunnel had gradually begun to expand, leading them into an obviously manufactured space where Goron thought had clearly been left behind. Not only had the walls been etched with some rudimentary Goron alphabet, but the ceiling laid bare the apparent operation of this room.

Revali scrutinized the room with a scoff, "Good to know they had time to waste when building these."

"It's not just another room," Link sighed, pointing up toward the ceiling, "See? That slit cut into the rock? There's a wall of iron hidden up there. I guess this was something of a gate shaft to redirect the magma if they needed it to run elsewhere."

He noted two large, round holes in the rock above as well, "There's probably a room above this one where ropes or something raise and lower the slab."

"Well aren't you an articulate scholar," Revali mused distasteful.

Link groaned, "It's literally what Daruk said these tunnels were built for."

Revali let loose a scuff, "Psh! If you can believe a word that man of stone says."

Loosening his shoulders, Link shook his head, "Fine, you know what? I'll grant you that. Just because I know better than to lose faith in him- after all that's happened, I can understand you all not paying him any heed."

Revali eyed him critically, "Rather astute of an opinion, Hylian."

"Not really," Link explained, "When Daruk _does_ come through and shows you all what a hero truly is, I'll be looking forward to you, in particular, feeling yourself an absolute fool, so-"

Revali shone a smirk, "I'd expect little else than a pithy snare of weak return from you by now. Still, I'll have you know, I'm not privy to remaining within the goddess-forsaken place any longer than required, so if that bag of boulders can make it any more efficient, I welcome his chance in doing so."

The two's walk continued, wholly undecided in the extent of their scouting, though it did give Revali a few moments to consider Link's words, even if it were simply to find flaw in the Hylian's logic.

"And you see no problem in trusting a man who's largely been little more than a detriment to our venture as of late?" Revali questioned with a scowl.

Link shrugged, "It's not a question of trust. If it were, then yes, I trust Daruk a great deal. but within this Company, trust is not an issue. We all do our part, and I expect as much- I wouldn't have joined had I not that expectation."

"Daruk looks out for me," Link shrugged, "I look out for him."

A pause.

"Even you."

Revali scowled, "As though I would ever require the aid of a Hylian."

"Just so you know- when the time comes," Link muttered.

Remaining with a frown, Revali scoffed as he turned away, arms crossed, as his steps slowed to a stop, causing Link to emulate his movement, waiting for the Rito to speak.

"That should be enough," Revali clicked dismissively, "We return."

Link nodded, turning to follow behind Revali's head start, though, despite his previous comments, decided to level the playing field slightly, smirking, "For one who distrusts Daruk, you sure were quick to check whether or not his story was accurate."

"You know," Revali sputtered venomously, though he quickly reigned in his frustration, returning to his focused gait as he mumbled, "Suit yourself, Hylian."

Link grinned, "Well, you're getting better about not getting your feathers in a fluffle."

"Only because I've already proven myself, repeatedly," the Rito assured with an air of absolute bounty, "By now, any of your words would fail to even hope to tarnish my image."

Glaring sidelong toward Revali, Link noted pithily, "You do realize that, largely, all we've done has gone unnoticed by greater Hyrule."

"Ah, but you are merely incorrigible, Hylian. Witwa, the lord of lords, and even _your_ goddess watches, ever diligent in their gaze," Revali marveled with a reverent tone, "Plus, those children who scorned my plumage now know to fear those with wings!"

Link sighed, "I mean, they know to be apprehensive of _someone_ alright…"

"I also ran into a fellow Rito, one of the low-landers, on our way out of that realm you call a Kingdom," Revali noted without shame, "I might have mentioned my heroic antics back in the desert."

"Oh, goddess; you're like a washed-up bard," Link grumbled, rubbing his eyes.

Revali shrugged, "Why, some of the greatest storytellers are bards. I wouldn't discount myself as one; instead of song, I write stories in my actions, in my immovable tenor, despite whatever rigors threaten to-"

*BWOO~OOOM*

He immediately began to sputter in place as the tunnel shook violently in a tremulous chorus, seemingly invalidating his words even as he regained his composure once the earthquake ended.

"Goddess!" he exclaimed, turning to find Link having knelt down to steady himself.

The soldier looked around, "I don't know what that was, but I can tell you already, I don't like it. Come-"

*BWOO~OOOM*

A second earthquake sent the two of their stances asunder, knocking Revali to the ground as he rolled around, desperately attempting to orient himself properly.

"BY THE-!" he exclaimed noisily, "My plumage!"

Link jumped up to his feet, hurrying down the tunnel from where they came from without a word, leaving Revali to work himself up. The Hylian sped down the craggy corridor, still wobbling in something of aftershock, skidding to a stop only as he ran into the large slab of limestone that had broken loose in the tremors, and now blocked their path.

He ran his hand along the sturdy rock, sighing, "Well, this isn't good…"

Refusing to turn as Revali approached, Link simply lowered his head, allowing the Rito to discover the truth for himself, which led to a curse-laden cry, "Well stifle my apteria, why don't you!"

*BWOO~OOOM*

Another ferocious shock sent Revali stumbling forward, clutching onto the slab of limestone as best he could to remain composed, crying out in frustration, "I bet you think you're so clever!"

"What?!" Link shouted back, "How is _any_ of this my- _You_ were the one to-!"

*BWOO~OOOM*

The two continued their fluid attempts at standing straight up amidst the rumbling ferocity of the mountain, their feet sliding along in impotent attempts to brace themselves, only coming to something of equilibrium for a brief moment to allow them some peace of mind.

"Alright," Link spoke up, "Just hold on a moment. There could be more aftershocks."

Revali spat out, "Now you're a geologist!"

"It's basic freaking-!" Link shouted back, only to be silenced be another, closer rumbling that threatened to turn his stomach.

Behind them, another plate of limestone had broken free from the ceiling, hanging only by some unseen hinge that now brought the slab sickeningly closer to the two as though it were a door swinging into its frame, blocking their only exit and closing in on them, slamming through the solid rock of the mountain like a mindless tread.

"This really isn't good," Link noted with a lifeless tone.

Revali froze in unceremonious realization, breaking his icy glance only once Link shouted at him, "Come on!"

Throwing his backpack to the ground, Link braced himself against the limestone slab of the Goron contraption bringing his feet up to the wall that swung in on them, throwing his legs up to meet where it was closest.

Revali strode over with more determination than Link had ever seen, muttering in complaint underneath his breath, "This is precisely how I always knew I would perish! Stolen away from the eyes of the sky, trapped in some abominable tunnel of disgusting earth and silt!"

"Shut up and help me push!"

* * *

Daruk's eyes panned the room he had just entered, wondering exactly where he was within the winding hallway of the mountain. He had an idea; he should be somewhere _above_ the others by now, he figured, but couldn't be certain where, exactly. He held on tightly to the Master Sword in his hand, having now forgotten his utter shock that the weapon had allowed him to do so, before stepping further into the room, peering upward toward the shaft above him.

This was a waystation for diverting lava flows from one exit to another, depending on which pathways of the mountain were in use by the Gorons at the time. Despite its centuries of disuse, it still functioned rather properly; Daruk noted the troughs of igneous rock through which lava flows barreled down before pouring down one tunnel. They could be swung from side to side to divert the flow, a profession once chosen for only the bravest of Gorons, but for only a few short years before Vah Rudania's apparent intentions came to light.

Daruk allowed himself a moment of awe as he admired the Goron craftsmanship, having never seen the waystations in person before, though he remained loose in his fascination, still plodding along in continuation, still focused on returning to Link what belonged to him. His sour mood had improved after long hours of introspection within the heart of his mountain, but by now, worry had begun to settle in like a pebble embedded in sand.

He approached the frontend of the waystation, noticing two of the tunnels through which the lava above could be diverted to. He felt something of a twinge in his hand, peering down toward the Master Sword in his hand, almost as if the inanimate weapon were restless. Daruk's brow furrowed in confusion, but in a split second, his eyes went wide as his senses exploded within his mind.

"REVALI?!" he could make out Zelda's voice, "ARE YOU THERE?!"

His breath ejected into the air as Daruk noticed his proximity to the others. The grip upon the Master Sword tightened as Daruk peered into the cylindrical tunnel that led straight down toward the others.

Through one, he made out Zelda, Urbosa, and Mipha, and through the other, Link and Revali, trapped between the slab that had broken loose from where Daruk now stood. The Goron immediately stepped closer toward the vertical tunnels, desperate to tear through the barrier between the two, but paused, not daring to act too quickly only to mess up once again.

He turned to the other tunnel, eyes narrowed, just barely making out Link and Revali with their legs propped up, the same wall of rock that threatened to crush them also slamming through the rock of the tunnel Daruk now peered through.

Turning his body, he prepared to descend down to crush through the rock wall, but in that moment, a sickening screech caught his attention.

"KWAAAAAAARW!"

His spine crawled. He turned back toward the tunnel with the women of their troupe, then back to the opposite, lost on what to do. Torn.

Finally, his breath hastened.

He turned his head upward, finding the trough of lava above him.

Daruk's heart began to pound in his chest as he threw his arm up, dropping the Master Sword down the tube of rock before turning his attention to the trough.

* * *

His eyes shut as tight as they could, Link shoved his feet against the slab, growling intensely as he poured his every muscle into resisting the onslaught that threatened their lives.

"Gah!" he cried out in a furious gasp for energy, "GAAA-~"

*PLAM*

His eyes flew open at the nearby, unfamiliar sound, immediately loosing his focus as he scanned the area, checking the space between he and Revali to find the Master Sword, sending his heart in a myriad of directions as his eyes shot upward.

"DARUK!" he shouted.

Revali sputtered from his contorted frame, "What- the- What're- you- doing- dolt?!"

* * *

Daruk reached for the rope that worked its way through the trough of lava, carefully pulling it nearer to the two gaps in the floor below. As he aligned it properly, his heart sank- after years of disuse, the lava had eroded away the end of the trough, leaving it too short to reach the two tunnels.

"Goddess, no!" Daruk exclaimed under his breath, returning to the two tunnels.

He thought of his friends. The Company that had once been an assemblage of random beings, that now had very much become his family.

He thought, ever still, of the debt owed to them. after everything he had caused them in the way of pain. in failure.

His heart rang out in his ears as his eyes turned to meet the trough of liquid, searing rock. His body shook, ringing out in breathless, terrified shivers that panged throughout every layer of stone within him.

He stepped toward the two tunnels. He released a tumultuous whisper.

"More than stone…"

"You're not mere stone."

He bit his lip. then surrendered every apprehension. Everything his body knew to avoid doing.

He knew how to close the gap.

His hand raised toward the trough, and with a final shake of breath, buried his hand into the pouring stream of molten rock, his eyes flaring open into wide craters of pained contortion. His body convulsed in initial repulsion, but despite the scorching punctures of endless, searing pain, Daruk resisted, gritting his teeth as a booming roar escaped him.

"HWA-! HWAAAAAAAA-!"

As the lava cascaded down his arm and along his shoulders, he aimed his opposite arm toward the tunnel above Link and Revali, his vision going blank as excruciating pain rang through every segment of his body like stab after stab, as if he were being mauled to death by some murderous specter.

* * *

Link's eyes widened at the everglow of orange careening toward the two of them. He immediately jolted his gaze toward Revali, whose eyes remained shut, and readied a leg before shooting a powerful kick into the Rito's side, sending him careening into the wall with a massive *THUD*.

Revali immediately coursed with anger, yelling, "YOU LITTLE-!"

Before he could continue, a loud cascade of lava gushed atop the limestone slab, immediately beginning to melt the solid structure into a gaseous mess of vapor all while lava continued piddling down toward the rock below. Link's eyes widened in shock, the slab slowing its descent now that its momentum had largely halted due to its weakening weight.

* * *

Daruk clenched his jaw as tight as he could, feeling his teeth beginning to dig back into his mouth. He growled determinately as he yanked his arm away, releasing a pool of lava atop the next slab to allow it to melt down, before turning his arm even further to allow a deluge to spill toward the woman of the Company as well.

* * *

"That _had_ to have been him!" Zelda shouted, as hopeful as she'd been in what seemed like days.

Urbosa bit her tongue, readying her sword, "Child! We haven't time! Ready your weapon and-!"

"Watch out!"

Urbosa threw her head up, leaping out of the way just as a stream of lava came crashing down atop of them. She watched in terror of the foreign substance, but her attention immediately drew back toward the approaching lanmola.

"KWAAAWR! -WAAAWR! -AAAAAAAWR!" rang out the chorus of creatures that immediately came to a halt, terrorized by the glowing beam of lava that poured nearer their direction.

Mipha, newly revitalized, was the first to exclaim, "Urbosa! Your shield!"

In a split second, Urbosa turned her attention toward her shield, catching Mipha's drift in an instant as she lifted it up into the air, allowing a generous heap of lava to collect atop of it before bringing it low, throwing her sword across the face of the shield as lava scattered throughout the tunnel, the lanmola creatures immediately releasing frightened cries in reply.

"KWAAAWR! -WAAAAAAR!"

"Back, you beasts!" Urbosa shouted as she stepped forward ever slightly, turning the creatures back.

The darkened bodies of slithering creatures retreated with zealous glints of guttural cries, but as Urbosa continued the assault, the lanmola swarm suddenly spun away, skittering along like frightened animals.

Their threat averted, Urbosa suddenly spun around, dropping the shield to the ground to keep its face from sending lava elsewhere, hurrying back to the group as liquid pools of magma wormed its way throughout the gigantic ingot of limestone that kept the Company separated. As gaps emerged between noxious fumes of limestone burning into vapor, Mipha peered through the unstable rock, desperate to find Link, finding him collapsed against the wall of the tunnel, hand over his chest as he desperately attempted to calm himself.

She turned a hopeful glance toward Urbosa as the Gerudo took her sword, working its sharpened edge in through the emerging divisions within the slab, attempting to quicken its dissolve.

"Link! Revali!" Zelda cried out.

Revali was the only one to shout in reply, "If I _ever_ _again_-!"

*CRASH*

Daruk's lifeless body came collapsing into the rock opposite the woman of the Company, shaking the earth between Link and Revali with a startling burst of tremors.

"DARUK!" Link shouted as he immediately leapt to his feet, scrounging his way closer to the fallen Goron as the woman looked on in fright.

Link immediately grew cautious, noticing the lengthy streaks of jet black char that shone along his arms and shoulders that were heated to the touch. He threw his hands underneath Daruk, trying to spin the massive man onto his back, but to no avail.

"Revali!" he cried out.

The Rito sputtered to life, "That man nearly-!"

"_GET_ over here!" Link yelled out with a booming voice that rivaled Daruk's boasts.

As though shaken to his core, Revali stood for a moment in shock, only moving to trudge his way toward the fallen Goron, shaking his head as he cursed under his breath.

"Stupid little-"

Link grunted as he continued his attempt to spin Daruk over, speaking heatedly, "You can say whatever the hell you want, but- You're gonna get over here and _help_!"

With Revali's added weight, the Goron rolled over, his arm falling lifelessly across his body as he lay there, eyes closed, his lips contorted in a way to signal sleep… or-

"Da- ruk," Zelda whimpered below tearful eyes, covering her mouth to conceal her tender tone.

Link fell to his knees, examining the lost man quickly enough, only to realize that Gorons have nothing of vital signs to begin with. Only a sigh left him at the realization of such a thing, his head turning as Urbosa finished carving out a smoky path through the limestone slab, allowing she and Zelda to quickly help Mipha through the gap.

"Urbosa," Link muttered warily, "Can you carry him?"

The Gerudo watched him with pained eyes, as if in dismay with her own abilities, "I mean- I can try."

Link bit his lip. He turned toward Zelda.

"All of us, or none of us. Right?"

Zelda's heart shook.

Link finished, "Daruk would want us to continue without him."

"I know," Zelda tearfully surmised, covering her face, "I- I-"

The struggling voice of this child tore a wedge through Urbosa's heart. She shook her head as she stepped toward the gigantic man, leaving Zelda speechless as she squatted down, throwing Daruk's arm and leg over her shoulder.

"Enough of this," she charged, breathing quickly to ready herself, "There's no more time for this, right?"

Zelda watched with terror as Urbosa began lifting Daruk over her shoulder with Link pushing him up and over her head, the Gerudo's voice straining as she growled underneath the added, magnanimous weight.

"GRRRRRRR!" she roared like a tigress, "Al- right. Give me- a moment to- adjust. Hard part's over…"

Link turned toward Zelda, "You sure?"

Behind tear-stained eyes, Zelda fretted a reply, but Urbosa took her place with a quick, "Yes, I'm sure! Now come on!"

Urbosa carried Daruk along, every step like a lacerating stab to her knees, gaining speed as she learned which steps allowed her momentum to lunge forward. Link watched warily before catching sight of Mipha, who took her turn behind Urbosa to walk along behind her.

Link's brow curled with worry.

He prayed there wouldn't be another casualty.


	52. The Third Divine Beast, Vah Rudania

The heat grew immense, signaling the Company's proximity to Vah Rudania's domain, and although such a noticeable event signaled the turning point of this quest, it also brought about the most difficult portion of the trek as well. Without Urbosa's guidance, due to her massive weight in carrying Daruk, Link was left alone guiding Mipha in her mechanical shell, while more or less entailed him pulling at her arm, willing her to continue.

Eventually, Zelda had taken the opposite side, the two yanking at Mipha's arms until, subtly enough, the Zora's legs began to drag, making the Hylians' jobs all the more difficult until, finally, they were forced to stop.

"Alright," Link panted with pained exhaustion, "We need to figure something out."

Zelda rotated to the front of Mipha's suit, sliding a rag from her pocket as she wiped away the fog from the glass visor, unable to reply. Link dropped a hand to his knee as he bent over, chugging further breaths as he watched Urbosa press on through the tunnel, unable to change course without utterly dropping to the ground without the ability to walk at all.

"Okay, maybe if-" he began to think aloud, but his ears shot back as Zelda's voice broke through to his mind.

"Link-!" she gave a hesitating, terrified voice.

He quickly turned, stepping to the front of Mipha's suit to glance inside beyond the suit, his heart sinking at the sight. As if she'd fallen into an ever-deepening sleep, Mipha's shoulders slumped forward into the suit itself, her head fallen forward in lifeless reverie, with only a pursed mouth even giving the slightest impression that she was still alive.

Zelda rushed to the backside of the suit, yanking at it to drag it back into the caverns, "We have to get her back to- Urbosa!"

Eyes glued to the visor, Link stood placid, though his heart trembled at the sight. As Zelda threw her weight against the machine, Mipha's body began to shift in a triflingly small movement, seemingly awakening her from her slumber, however slightly. Her eyes barely peered out through the glass screen, eyelids heavy as they were from a vacuous mixture of exhaustion and biology bubbling with heated disruption.

"Link!" Zelda cried, begging for help as her feet slid inconsequentially atop the volcanic soil.

His hand raised, sitting atop the glass visor as his eyes met Mipha's own tired pair. As if in silent communication, Mipha's eyes shook, lost as they were, begging him for action in some language reserved only for those most pristine of silences between lovers.

Link's breaths grew heated. He knew what she wanted. She'd made it clear enough.

"We need to keep going," he only barely spoke up, dropping his head, escaping Mipha's weakened glance.

Zelda's eyes went wide, "What?!"

"We won't ever have the amount of resources that we have at this moment," Link offered pragmatically, lifting his eyes only to watch Zelda's hallowed reaction, "It's now or never."

"Link! Look at her! She's gonna-!"

"It's what she would want," Link muttered coldly, screwing his eyes painfully before taking another look through the glass visor, "She's no more of a detriment than any of us."

Mipha's eyes constricted painfully, forcing a whimper to leave her as her face tightened like the breadth of a canvas, her body's lack of moisture forcing her need for tears to shoot ever more painful across her cheeks.

Zelda's face contorted in wary confusion, but even so, Link's downtrodden voice had said everything she needed to hear. She dropped her arms, but not without a sigh of distress as she worked her way back to Mipha's front side, shaking her head.

"I hope you know what you're doing."

"I don't," Link admitted as he curled his arm around the mechanical counterpart to Mipha's own, "I haven't a clue."

Zelda shot him an almost angry stare in critique as Link threw his body forward, angling his posture as he started dragging Mipha's heavy suit behind him.

"Only she knows," he bit into the air through tense, churning breaths.

However apprehensive she was, Zelda fell into assistance as she pulled Mipha's opposite arm, the two working through the tunnel at a crippling speed until rounding a final corner, the ashen, acrid air, painted orange with specks of black soot clouding the atmosphere, signaling their arrival. A final burst of enthusiasm made the final sluggish stomps no more easy, but their minds were quelled for only a brief moment, thinking only of the light at the end of this treacherous tunnel.

Mipha's feet slid coarsely along the rocky terrain as Link tore his body forward in spurts, finding Urbosa and Revali standing still a few paces along, Daruk's body sat against the wall as the Gerudo peered out into the distance, arms grappling her hips to rest while her shoulders churned up and down with mechanical breaths.

As Link and Zelda approached, they caught sight of the magnificently gaping maw of Death Mountain's mighty crater, bellowing smoke that chugged upward from the lowest depths the world itself. Link paused for a moment, leaving Mipha standing stationary as he stepped forward, his absence signaling Zelda to do the same and the two stepped up to the daunting edge of the tunnel's end, joining Urbosa and Revali, the look of their faces matching in their surprise.

"Is that- Vah Rudania..?" Zelda asked for confirmation.

Sure enough, from where they stood, Vah Rudania sat motionless beneath them, its mighty claws dug into the ashen rock face as it anchored itself, precisely where it needed to be.

"W- What-" Zelda stammered, "What are the odds..?"

Link shrugged, "I don't particularly care about the odds at the moment. Urbosa, you-"

He paused, noticing the Gerudo's still-placid stare, repeating, "Urbosa-?"

Whipping to attention, she nodded, "I suppose, from here, I can roll Daruk down and onto the Beast. Mipha, however-"

"We've got her," Link confirmed, pointing toward Revali, "Zelda and I balance her, and he sits up front to direct."

Revali grit his teeth, "Bah!"

"Objection?" Link asked.

The Rito threw a defiant arm into the wind before complaining, "No. but that does not mean I cannot be upset at the idea of being used as a rudder."

Returning to Mipha, Link and Zelda brought her body closer toward the edge, with Urbosa already crawling down along the rock face, noting Vah Rudania's body pressed against the volcanic wall of rock. She grabbed Daruk's foot and yanked him closer to the edge, with Revali begrudgingly pushing him along toward her with a tepid motion from his clawed foot.

"Alright, then," Urbosa sighed, "Make it quick."

With that, she threw her arm back over her shoulder, sending Daruk's body toppling over the edge before rolling down the craggy mountainside as she skidding down alongside him, the two's bodies kicking up magnificent plumes of soot up into the air as it followed their trail further and further down until, finally, the two fell atop Vah Rudania with a noticeable _thud_.

"Gah," Urbosa groaned painfully, dropping to the metallic surface as though she'd been taken down by an arrow.

Her narrow eyes peered weakly up toward the sky, surrounded by a craggy circle of crater rock, following the noxious fumes of sulfur as they arose to pierce that igneous-banded summit. Her body ached like never before, hopefully a mere sign of the treacherous journey and not of age. She certainly hadn't ever required the conditioning to carry a Goron, but even then, in her youth, such prerequisites never applied to her- a proud trait that had won the friendship of Zelda's mother.

Goddess, she thought- What that woman would have said, now, looking upon the fragile child she had so painfully left behind.

"FWAAAH!" came the sputtering cries of Revali as he slid down the incline, desperately worming his talons into the rock to direct the massive suit that forced him down the cliff at a blistering speed.

Like a dumbbell falling onto solid flooring, Mipha's feet slammed into the edge of Vah Rudania's shell before launching her upper body into an arc that slammed its back side onto the ancient material, forcing Revali desperately into the air with a breathlessly furious swinging of his winged arms as he avoided the cacophonous clamoring of metal atop metal.

"By the gods!" Revali cried out.

Zelda watched Link tending to Mipha, quickly launching her into instruction, "Revali, I need you to go around and scout around. I'll run around and get some rudimentary sketches, but I'm not about to li her, alright?"

Frowning, Revali nodded before reaching out his arms to work out the crummy bits of humid-laced splotches that stuck his feathers in a mangy mess, "Fine, I'll have it done to the best of my ability."

Zelda gave a directing nod before sliding down into the recesses of Vah Rudania, taking another look toward the four others of her Company, two of them lying about in lifeless reverie. She leapt down into the depths of the Beast, leaving them alone to recuperate, before continuing on her Divine quest.


	53. A Champions' Company Torn Asunder

Every breath flowing through Link's throat brought about the sensation of swallowed daggers as he sat beside Mipha, his mind riddled with guilt as she lay there, all but lifeless, within her suit. He had spent enough minutes thinking over his own status, his chapped throat forefront upon his mind, before thinking solely of Mipha. From where he sat, he only had a rough angle with which to glance into her visor, but by now, the entire screen had fogged up, leaving him wholly oblivious to her present state.

He fought his growingly decrepit body, turning to the side and balancing himself with a hand atop Vah Rudania's hide, bringing himself gradually closer atop Mipha's mechanical shell. He reached a lingering hand over her visor, wiping grimy dirt over the glass in an attempt to peer inside, finding only Mipha's slumbering face, wholly devoid of constriction. Her lips no longer pursed for breaths, nor did her brow twist or turn in determination.

Link's heart began to race. He weakly pulled his backpack around his side, dropping it to the surface beneath them before sliding a hand atop the helmet, worming it along before finding the pneumatic tab that would force open the visor, hoping to return some gekari gel at least to her face. With a gentle pop, the visor swung open, allowing Link to quickly wipe the dirt from his hand before reaching into his pack for the jar so desperately needed at this moment.

"It's okay," he whispered with pained, extended breaths, as much to himself as to Mipha, "It's gonna be okay…"

He scooped up a portion of gel onto his two fingers, reaching into the visor to gingerly spread it atop Mipha's face, her body not reacting whatsoever to the foreign presence upon her. His eyes widened slowly, his breaths growing tremulous as his fingers crossed her skin, the piecemeal portion of gel vanishing in between her scales, leaving less of a barrier between his skin and hers until, finally, he grew to understand her condition.

His heart skipped a beat as he pushed himself closer, leaving himself on both knees before quickly reaching his other hand inside the visor, his voice just skirting that tone of abject terror, "No. No, no, no…"

The palm of his hand pressed into her cheek. Instead of that sweetly snowy sensation of her skin, he only found warmth, as if she were a Hylian, her body having already begun its decay.

Link grew desperate for breaths as his vison grew cloudy, having missed an allotment of inhalation as he came to terms with the danger currently surrounding Mipha. He turned to Urbosa, frenzied for something of assistance, only to find her still passed out herself, with only her rising chest to denote her state of living.

"Ur-" Link choked, his tearful reverie, in duet with his charred throat, depriving him of much of anything in terms of a plea, "Urbo- sa!"

So deep into her slumber, Urbosa hadn't the faintest inkling of the impending dread.

Link returned his attention to Mipha's suit, overlooking the mechanism for the ten hundredth time, the mechanical barrier so necessary a moment ago now simply encaging her atop Death Mountain itself. He knew it wasn't going anywhere. Not any time soon, anyway.

He forced himself to his feet, wiping away the tears that stole away his vision before positioning himself above Mipha's head, clutching the bottom of her helmet with his voice convulsing in miserable woe.

"Goddess, help her," he prayed, tortured by his thoughts as he jerked his body back, throwing the upper half of the suit free from its adjoining half.

He rushed to her midsection, crouching low to brace himself against the leg-section while throwing his hands to the cuff of the torso, sliding it in agonizingly slow movement until Mipha's body could be slipped free. He did so with haste, exposing her body entirely to the hellish elements, knowing it was better than simply allowing her to drift away into oblivion.

They were one, he knew; and so long as one of them could swim the depths or cross mountains, the two of them had a chance.

Link threw his shoulder, forcing the Master Sword free from its perch atop its back until it slid down to his hand. He took a glance at it, then to Mipha, before simply reaching low and tossing the Sword toward Daruk, shaking his head as he prepared Mipha for their ascent to cross the crater's summit.

The Master Sword's place now vacant, Link grabbed its strap to anchor Mipha's body to his own, eying the Sword as it lay at Daruk's side, as if the two were locked into a staring contest, leaving Link to shake his head, muttering, "You'll understand some day."

With Mipha's anchored to him, free from any bodily protection, Link stepped to the edge of Vah Rudania, not wasting a second to worm a foot into the rock face, pushing his body up, feeling the added weight of Mipha holding him. So exhausted was he, still, that she felt no different than were she still within the suit, though Link carried on, teeth barred as grunting pants of determination followed the two of them as he worked his way up toward the rim of the crater, knowing the descent from there would be easier than any tunnel out from the crater.

As he ascended, he couldn't quite recall the order with which Zoras would die in such heat. He knew she had rolled the dice on a single one.

That was one too much.

* * *

Daruk's eyes began to stir. Before he could see to confirm his state of currently being alive, he already recognized the rolling hunger within his stomach, the precursor to him finding the will to awaken fully, though not without the searing pain nearly encompassing his upper body. He groaned boorishly, pushing himself to his feet, examining his surroundings to find himself with Death Mountain Crater.

Even more than that, he was standing atop Vah Rudania.

"By the Goddess," he exclaimed lowly, his impressiveness quickly sinking as he recalled the dire straits of many of the Company's members.

He spun around to take stock of the situation, only finding Urbosa nearby, lost to sleep herself, before zeroing in on the split-open suit that Mipha had once been adorned. Daruk's eyes bulged with furious unease, quickening his search for the others, not bothering to wait before shouting.

"HEY!" he roared, rushing along Vah Rudania's side, "HEY! GUYS!"

From the most unexpected voice came a chiding, "Down here, you fool!"

Daruk immediately spun around, peering into the interior of Vah Rudania to find Revali standing with Zelda in his arms, the Rito desperately keeping her from the soot-covered stage of the Divine Beast beneath their feet. He jerked his arms up to better his grasp upon Zelda's still body, obvious in his sheer disgust with the situation.

"I've been making my deepest clamoring known for at least ten minutes now!" Revali complained, "Someone get _down_ _here_ and relinquish me of this situation!"

Daruk turned away, only sliding to a halt before returning to Revali, "Where's Link and Mipha?!"

"By the-! How should I know, you boulder?!" Revali spouted venomously, desperate to keep Zelda from sliding too low down his plumage.

Grumbling to himself, Daruk hustled toward Urbosa, crouching down and taking her shoulders before shaking her awake, "Urbosa! Hey! Wake-!"

"GaaaAAAAAH!" she roared to life, throwing her arms out in defense as though she were being assaulted, forcing Daruk backward as he raised his arms.

"Friend! Not foe!" he clarified, "Look, get down there and help Zelda! I've gotta-!"

Urbosa's face contorted in thunderous unease as she worked her way up, "Wait, just start over, who-"

"Link took off with Mipha," Daruk confirmed, a shadowy expression appearing on Urbosa's face, "I have to go get 'em. You and Revali get Zelda out and I'll- I don't know; I'll find 'em."

Before accepting an agreement, Daruk took off toward the cliffside, jamming his fists into the rock wall with enough force to anchor his entire body in place, allowing him to alternate fist to fist as he ascended, newly revitalized, not only due to his unconsciousness, but by service to his Sworn Brother.

Urbosa watched him ascend for only a moment before turning toward the interior of Vah Rudania, catching only a glimpse of the Master Sword as he brow fell.

"How in the bloody-" she cursed under her breath, quickly approaching the weapon, "Have you _any_ clue how quickly Zelda is going to-"

At the split second of her reaching down to grasp the Sword, she recalled its immense weight, the recollection jarring her mind as she lifted it, only to drop it in shock, reaching over in a flash to clutch onto her wrist for fear of having broken it. She watched the Sword for a brief second, wondering if she weren't still lost within a dreamscape.

"HEY!" shot Revali's voice, "HEEEY!"

With no time, Urbosa groaned unhappily as she took the Master Sword once more, taking in a deep breath before throwing her arm up, only to find the Sword having followed her, remaining indelibly weightless that she failed to comprehend its properties.

"HEEY!"

Her attention broken, Urbosa whipped her head back around toward the source of Revali's voice, shoving the Master Sword's sheath into one of the straps of her backpack before hopping down into Vah Rudania. Revali glared at her with a pithy glance, still disgusted by having come into contact with Zelda, though remained steadfast in keeping her upright all the same.

"This was _not_ in my contract," Revali complained as Urbosa approached, allowing him to push Zelda away into her waiting arms.

Urbosa rushed, "What happened?!"

"Pshaw, how should I know?!" he replied heatedly, "I was scouting the area and she wat jotting stuff down as I reported. I was simply standing here, minding my own after the fact, when she just collapsed."

Urbosa frowned, "Probably from the fumes and the heat, you birdbrain! Come on!"

Angrily enough, Revali sputtered up into the air while Urbosa made her way up Vah Rudania's hide, hoping Zelda had written down all she needed. She hated to abandon the quest without certainty, but by now, she knew she hadn't a choice.

* * *

Link carefully worked his way down the mountain, desperately attempting to avoid the more destructive of routes as he stepped along, slowly, balancing another body along with his own. The sight of green pastures, albeit so incredibly far away, left him with a sense of hope, even if the cloud of dread lingered overtop the two with even more maliciousness.

Coming to a particularly nasty segment of rock, Link came to a halt, deciding to readjust Mipha's position. He quickly unlatched her from the strap that ran along his back, and instead brought her into his arms, better allowing him to shift her weight if needed.

He stepped lightly atop the shallow shelf of rock that looked able to break apart at any moment under their weight. He tried his best to hold Mipha's body away from him, if only to spread out their center of gravity, only to have overcome the obstacle, leaving him only to focus, once again, on the next best place to descend.

"We got this," he panted, feeling his legs about to give way any second, "You didn't- give up on me. You know I won't."

He continued muttering aloud, as if believing it were somehow entering her unconscious mind, helping her to hang on.

Rocks began to break beneath his feet, screwing his balance for a moment as the large pebbles went charging down the mountain with reckless abandon, not remaining within Link's thoughts for more than a moment as his focus remained on Mipha.

"It's not gonna end this early," he mouthed, almost silently, "It can't."

He stepped quicker.

"I won't let it."

Reorienting his thoughts, returning to caution, Link worked his way down a winding pathway, his method of seeking the easier paths proving rather inefficient. Mipha was already on borrowed time, he knew.

He broke from his pattern, moving as vertical as he could, taking weak steps to ascertain his footing before rushing along, sending loose gravel flinging through the air, sending tremors of pellets aflutter further down the mountain.

With each step, he imagined, he was a step closer to saving the woman he loved. the woman who had saved him a week earlier. When he, himself, was on the brink of death.

He scurried down the mountain, planting his feet into the best pockets of rock he could find, throwing his momentum back and forth to remain upright before, finally, coming to a halt in order to take a quick breather after his body's tumultuous exertion.

"Almost there," he lied, noting the remaining two-thirds of the mountain still ahead of them, "We're gonna get you better, alright?"

His eyes caught a glimpse of her lifeless body for but a moment before he pulled himself away, knowing tears would only be to his detriment. He shook the fear from his mind, taking another step before, once again, working his way down the cliffside.

"Just think about home, alright?" he pleaded, even with no indication of Mipha even comprehending his words.

"Think of all the water. Think about swimming around, as though he hadn't a care in the world."

His steps took powerful strides into each pool of rock.

He drew in a sharp, sniffling breath, muttering quietly, only to himself, "I suppose we all have cares, now…"

Another step.

"Think about home," he repeated, shaking his head, "about being in my arms."

Another.

He bit his cheek, "Mipha, please, don't-"

In a sudden

gut-wrenching moment

Mipha's body flinched with a furious convulsion

The motion threw Link's momentum to pieces. Mipha's body went flying as Link instinctively tossed her away to brace himself, but with the split-second decision making of a soldier, bloodied for weeks to train himself to ignore pain, his arms flew toward Mipha instead of the ground. He took her head and yanked in into his chest, protecting her from harm as the two barreled down the mountain, slamming into steel-like formations of rubble that stabbed into Link's back.

He could feel his muscles contract with every piercing contact, but he refused to release the Princess in his arms, choosing to leave himself scarred if only for the hope of Mipha's survival.

As the two of them slid to a stop upon a craggy facing of rock, Link buried his face into those crimson scales atop her head, bracing the two of them for further trauma, though it never came.

His eye opened skeptically, checking the rocks up above them, before immediately returning to Mipha, who released another dreadful convulsion atop of Link's body.

"No, no, no," Link repeated in a frightfully light voice, holding her closer to him, tighter, "Calm down, Mipha; just- just…"

There was no stopping her. After the initial, powerful flail, her body began to weaken all the more, her violent shaking gradually dying down in between Link's eyes.

"M- Mipha…" he pleaded, feeling the last of her life escaping from his grasp, "You can't go- please."

Her body grew more and more limp with the disquieting lingering of death surrounding them.

"Goddess," Link begged, pressing his face even more forcefully against her scalp.

He brushed his lips against her scales, feeling their silkily rough textures against his most delicate skin, recalling those nights when he truly felt as though he were no longer alone in the world. Born to link two knights, Link hadn't been able to find a link of his own- not until Mipha's brilliantly crimson scales crossed his eye. Not until he had come to know just how lost she was, and understood how weak, himself was. Not until he realized that, for all the weaknesses they held on their own, together, they were strong.

They were safe.

They were loved.

His eyes shut, thinking only of the woman lying in his arms.

"Goddess," he repeated, "If I could only speak a thousand words- I would spend each one upon your ear. Then, I would spend a lifetime reciting my love for you on paper."

He suddenly chuckled through the tears, "That's why you need to learn to better read Hylian."

His sudden laugh having brought levity to himself, he felt guilty, knowing the same couldn't be said about Mipha.

"I would write it on your scales with my lips," he muttered weakly, remembering their little game back in Zora's Domain.

They had been in the same position, yet their circumstances had been worlds different.

"You can't-" Link managed weakly, "Please, don't-"

As her body gave its last series of tremors, Link's heart poured out through his eyes as he refused to release her, as if refusing to give her up would keep her spirit from doing the same. His body jolted in anguished reverie as his voice choked up, crying, now that the world had been lost to him.

* * *

"BROTHER!" came a booming roar from overhead.

Link's head whipped to the side, the black soot of his face lined with ragged streams where tears had changed his skin red. Despite Daruk's approach, Link remained with his arms wrapped tightly around Mipha, even as Daruk came to a thundering stop beside them.

He reached down to take Mipha, only to notice Link's trembling form beneath her.

"Brother," he repeated, a solid timbre lining his voice.

Shaken as he was, Link could only watch.

Daruk assured with a deep, booming voice, "On my honor as your brother- No harm will come to her."

He reached down to grab her arm, even which Link's grasp constricted tighter.

"Link," Daruk spoke lower, a paternal air exuding from his solid pores, "Trust me."

His lips trembling with apprehension, Link slowly allowed his arms to slide down Mipha's sides, falling into the gravel earth below as Daruk hurriedly took Mipha into his arms, speaking only a couple of words before barelling down the mountain.

"Don't worry."

With the body of a mountain himself, Daruk hopped down the mountainside, his body crushing any auxiliary boulders that crossed the warpath he was spearheading down the mountainside with a furious pace.

Link lay there for a few moments more before weakly making his way back up to his feet, his eyes glues to the descending path below until Daruk grew out of sight. He then stood there, still, realizing that, were he to move, his body wouldn't have been able to keep up, sending him hurtling to the ground. Instead, his mind worked, imagining a scenario where Mipha was okay, despite knowing, full well, that such a thing had grown into a near-impossibility.

Suddenly, the sound of crushing boulders re-emerged, but from behind him, forcing Link's neck to twist as he glanced up the mountain, finding Urbosa emulating Daruk with her violent march of a descent sending gravel exploding into the air with every step as she laid waste to every stone in her path, Link only barely able to notice Zelda in her arms.

The Gerudo woman tore down the mountain with such zeal that Link could barely comprehend her even having passed him. His body wore on weakly, watching her disappear down the mountain, leaving him alone once a-

"Bwark!"

He spun around again, this time finding Revali struggling to fly down the mountain, matted as his feathers were due to the conditions. The Rito shot laced obscenities into the air as he hopped along, his wings being used more for gliding than anything resembling actual flight.

Link's brow curled with confusion as Revali approached him, a angry, sputtering voice ejecting from Revali's mouth, "Don't you dare say a word and- OW! Stupid feather- Just- grab on!"

His eyes noticeably shrinking with wariness, Link forced another boisterous voice from Revali, "By the- My talons, you fool! just-!"

Revali threw his body up into the air, his talons swinging toward Link to goad him on, but Link simply recoiled in fear.

"Imbecile!" Revali cried, sighing as he realized that tact was necessary, "You little- Look! You saved my life back there, so-! Just-!"

Already angered beyond all measure, Revali repeated the motion, leaving Link frightfully unaware of the Rito's intentions. So weak was his mind, Link could barely make out the man's words, but- It seemed, oddly enough, as though he were offering help.

Confused, Link still managed to grapple onto Revali's talons, leaving the Rito to flutter his wings furiously, his flight still widely inadequate, though he managed. The two battled the broken surface of rock beneath them as Link lifelessly attempted to kick free any debris Revali was too unable to avoid, sending even more painful smears across his legs.

Still, the excursion was much quicker than by foot, and Revali's piercing gaze could keep track of Urbosa's path, before finally catching sight of Daruk as they gradually descended the mountain.

"Down _there_," Revali noted with a jerk of his head.

Link managed weakly, "I think that's Cephla Lake. There's a shallow riverbed, so-"

He paused, thinking of Daruk's consideration of the matter.

The two swooped down haphazardly, catching up with Urbosa as she continued plowing through solid rock, passing her on as they coursed past Medingo Pond before twisting around Broca Island. Daruk's maneuver had given Link some hope, his mind still reeling from the emotional distress of the last hour, coupled even with Revali's insistence toward helping him.

They glided down to the embankment of Cephla Lake, where Link released himself, forcing his legs to carry him the remainder of the way. He turned the corner to find the shallow strip of land that just emerged from the lake itself, his heart skipping a beat as he noticed Daruk lying there, unmoving, as if he'd succumbed as well.

His heart sunk, but only for a moment. He stomped through the shallow water, wading through like a mad man before coming to Mipha's body, half-submerged, in the lake's water.

He fell to his knees beside her, grabbing her cheeks to turn her head toward him, examining her face. It remained as still as he had last seen it, as if there were nothing more beyond those scales.

"M- Mipha," he spoke up shakily, "Mipha, we- We made it. You can- can-"

He cupped his hand, taking some water to pour over her face before returning his hand to her cheek, "Mipha… Mipha, please… Please, don't…"

Leaning in closer, he brought her head into his chest. His heart had been so cold without her. He hoped that, perhaps, being so close, he could warm her up with that beating heart, but- With her gone, he knew-

He knew his heart hadn't a place for warmth. Not anymore.

"Mipha," he breathed quietly into her ear, rocking her back and forth in her arms, "We've got too much life to live together… Too many stories for me to tell you."

He voice trembled.

"Please…"

* * *

Revali watched from afar, critiquing the scene before him with waxing interest while he crossed his arms. Slowly, he began to turn as he heard Urbosa's approach, scowling while remaining silent. The Gerudo walked over with Zelda remaining silent in her arms, Urbosa's brow furrowing with worry.

"Oh no…" she spoke up with a weakening heart.

Revali didn't speak, though continued to watch the scene play out, more curious as to the budding relationship, seemingly, that he had missed. Still, he was saddened by the sight. Mipha had, perhaps, been the most genuine with him up until her time had passed, and despite his begrudging attitude, he knew her to be a special sort of soul.

His plumage drooped sorrowfully as the realization became apparent. Frowning, he dropped his head reverently, burying it against his mantle as he thought of the journey so far. Thinking about life. About Princess Mipha.

His attention flickered away as a glint of something caught him from the corner of his eye, his head rising toward Urbosa before a look of shock spread across his face. The Gerudo stepped toward Link, walking into the shallow waters as Revali remained anchored in place, mouth hanging open at the sight before him.

* * *

Link's tears only served to stain Mipha's scales as he pulled her head against her chest, running his cheek against her skin, permanently attempting to impress the feeling of her against him. He shook his head in desperation, barely able to accept this event as truly happening, and yet-

A tap at his shoulder.

He jolted away from Mipha angrily, yelling at the top of his lungs, "JUST LEAVE US A-!"

In a split second, his mood tore away from a veneer of furious resignation into one of abject shock. His eyes gleamed while his face took on the same expression as Urbosa; mouth hung open in awe while his eyes widened at the sight of something truly unbecoming of anything he'd come to know in Hyrule.

Urbosa's skin crawled, trembling, as she watched the body of Zelda within her arms. As she stood on the riverbank, she noticed the Princess' arm arise, as though a body possessed, sending a chill throughout Urbosa's entire frame. She followed the outstretched arm, all the way out into the shallow water, leading her here, of Zelda's unconscious direction.

"W- Goddess…" Link whispered.

A glow appeared to surround Zelda's hand as Urbosa knelt down, crouching lower as Zelda's reach seemed to be guiding her toward the deadened body of Mipha, much to Urbosa's fright. Link pulled away to give Urbosa room to maneuver Zelda around, until that glowing hand found rest atop Mipha's forehead.

Link's eyes glimmered at the sight, leaving Urbosa's face alone plastered with awe. Zelda's hand remained still, wholly unmoved, until, suddenly,

Mipha took a breath.

"Gah!" Link let loose an awkward sigh, belying the abject euphoria swelling up within his chest.

As quickly as Mipha had shown that sign of life, Zelda's arm fell away, that golden hue escaping the sight of the three of them while Urbosa quickly stood up to keep Zelda from the waters of the lake, leaving Link to fall atop Mipha to hold her once more, careful not to smother her, allowing the cool, shimmering waters to encapsulate her.

He heard her half-hearted breathing in his ear, indicative that her gills were doing their more powerful work, as he buried his face into her shoulder, caring little that his face grew submerged with every passing wave.

His tears would simply be left with the lake.


	54. The Pact

The remaining half of the Company didn't go far. After recovering Daruk and Mipha from the shallow path of land that curled atop the lake, they simply set up camp there upon the riverbank, but even that was merely comprised of a campfire and little else. Exhaustion, and a bit of fright, had caught up with them, forcing them to stand watch from the safety of the campfire as night fell, taking turns only as one or the others fell asleep upon the smooth rocks of the embankment.

Link didn't last long, leaving Urbosa the only one awake who could keep watch, as Revali fidgeted in his seated place, complaining to himself in whispers while he tended to his feathers, one by one, working out the mangy patches of strands that had resulted from the sweltering heat. Urbosa had little maintenance herself, though tire slowly began to creep back upon her as she felt her head sinking low.

Her eyes wandered across the fire, where Daruk, Zelda, and Mipha all lay, the lot of them still encased in a sleep so deep as render them all helpless. She ran her eyes along Zelda's body for what might have been the hundredth time since they had put up camp, still unable to understand what she had seen happen by the Princess' hand.

That glow. That ethereal movement despite her unconsciousness.

That moment of Zelda imparting life back upon Mipha.

Resting her arm atop her knee, her eyes remained locked on her little bird, absent-mindedly picking at the skin along her fingernails with her thumb. She knew of Zelda's, apparently, failed ventures that were meant to awaken some form of magic ability within her, and yet- She hadn't a clue it meant what it appeared to mean just a handful of hours earlier.

Her eyes slid away as Link's body began to stir, his head rising weakly before he pressed himself up, sitting there as he ran his hands across his eyes to relax the strain left there by sleep.

"Morning," Urbosa murmured sarcastically, indicating that it was, indeed, still the middle of the night.

Link only nodded in reply, his own eyes wandering over toward Mipha to examine the rocking of her chest, back and forth, indicating her continuing span of life. For how pained his body had become, his heart had weathered the worst of that previous excursion.

"Nightmares," he muttered quietly, dropping his face as his hand massaged his closed eyes.

Urbosa scoffed, "Well, you're a better man that I to attempt to sleep after everything."

She jerked her head toward Revali, "Not sure about _him_, though."

The Rito's eyes took a deep glance toward Urbosa, but beyond that, Revali simply returned to tending to his plumage.

Urbosa sighed, "I'd be too afraid of nightmares, myself. Best to take your mind off everything, meditate- Just hope for the best."

"Yeah," Link responded terribly weakly, almost as if in passing, taking another look at the others, still silent within a sleep all alone, "You think they're sleeping through nightmares?"

Shrugging, Urbosa replied, "No way to tell. Their minds might be too worn out for even that much."

She took a tree branch, carefully lowering it atop the fire, sending a chorus of crackling into the air, "Don't Hylians, when they dream- or maybe it was dogs. They mimic their dreams in real life while sleeping?"

Link smirked, "That _is_ dogs, but some Hylians, too. Surely the Gerudo do as well."

"Nope," Urbosa confirmed, "That is, we _can_. It's not innate at all, but our priestesses well develop dream recall to better aid in clairvoyance and the like. As Chieftain, I'm required to learn some of their ways myself, so-"

She shrugged, "Most I ever see is- well-…"

Biting her tongue, she battled for explanation, sizing it up with a short, "-evil."

Link chewed his lip, waiting for the suddenly sullen air to clear before advancing simply, "Gorons don't, I know. Though, nobody can exactly know how their minds work at all."

"Some of them- maybe they _don't_ work," Urbosa chuckled, smirking at the jab toward her snoozing rival.

"Perhaps," Link played along, a warm grin on his face, "Zoras do. There are stories- about as many as there are Zora- of them swimming away in emulation of some dream they're having. Part of why the young ones nap in pools atop the Domain."

Urbosa snorted in stifled laughter, "And here I thought it was to protect them from the _outside_ world, not themselves."

"Ah, well," Link smiled lowly, "Some people only have themselves to blame for folly, anyway."

"You're one to talk," Urbosa charged flatly, "You know, you haven't said a single word about the Master Sword since we got down here. You know, ever since you simply abandoned it atop the mountain."

She eyed the nearby pile of backpacks and satchels, finding the Sword resting listlessly atop the stack, "The first person to touch it in a millennia and you are so careless in its upkeep."

Link only half-heard her argument, only gazing upon the flickering flames of the fire with distant eyes, indicative of his wandering thoughts.

"If it knew I would cast it asunder," he muttered, "It wouldn't have chosen me in the first place."

Urbosa scoffed, rolling her eyes, "I know it's divine, but you'd think you've spoken to the thing."

"I'm not _that_ stupid," Link retorted, forcing Revali to stifle a chuckle at the insinuation of Link being so insane, "But if it _does_ know who's handling it- It knows I wouldn't abandon it."

He thought of Mipha finally taking hold of the Sword, herself, "Especially now."

Urbosa chewed her lip as she lowered her head, picking at her nails once again, "As you say, then."

Mulling over her words, she went on simply, "Knew better enough to start letting _us_ carry it, now. I thought it was gonna tear my arm off when I finally tried to lift the thing."

Lowering her shoulders, unknowingly signaling a reserved air that was so much unlike her, Urbosa completed listlessly, "I suppose these trials have truly turned us into a Company. One that Sword even understands."

Link felt his hair striding along his forehead as a still wind blew, tickling his skin while he allowed Urbosa's words to pass by him, forcing an inquiring glance toward Revali, who paused his pecking motion beak-deep along his feathered arm.

"I know what you're about to say, Hylian," Revali mumbled through the pile of plumage, shutting his eyes astutely while he further worked through his feathers, "While I acknowledge my position amongst this Company in only suitable means -that is to say, I understand that I'm here merely to make a name for myself, if not simply by my Chieftain's direction. Beyond that, you _both_ would be foolish to believe in such grandeur as me being anything more than a cog within this wheel."

Urbosa chuckled, "I don't know. Link said the same thing, once upon a time."

"Please stop," Link mumbled defeatedly, rubbing a tentative have across his face, "I'm _nothing_ like him."

"Truer words," Revali agreed pithily, "Have never been gurgled."

Urbosa raised an open hand to the side of her face to hide her silent grin, shutting her eyes and shaking her head to signal her disbelief at Revali's continuing oddities when his diction ever made its arrival. She soon dropped her hand with a sigh, allowing her eyes to once again glance upon the licking flames of their fire, flirting once more with the idea of sleep herself.

Besides the crackling of incessant bursts of ember rising into the sky, she was lulled further on by Revali's equally-endless clacking of beak on beak as he bite at himself, tearing free from his plume whatever matted messes still remained. Despite whatever abrasiveness accompanied his voice, the piddling tenor of his self-care was rather pleasant, almost like wooden chimes clanging amongst one another within a breeze. It reminded Urbosa of home; resting outdoors as the infernal sunlight vanished, spending voracious moments of storytelling with her friends.

It seemed to her as though a year had passed since they'd trekked through her homeland, leaving her slightly homesick as she sat there battling sleep. More so was her distressed feelings about Zelda. Once upon a time, perhaps she imagined a life with her little bird, as mother and daughter, living happily wherever they please, if only to offer Urbosa a menial chance at leaving something upon this world worth garnering pride for.

Her mind flickered in a twinge of subtle realization, knowing that, after what had been witnessed earlier, such things could never be returned to.

"So," Link suddenly spoke up, his voice arising in a dodgy cadence as if ready to retreat should any objection arise, "Are we gonna talk about what happened..?"

Urbosa took in a deep breath, dropping her head back amongst her shoulders while running her hands across her face, "Do we need to?"

Link watched with subtle astonishment as Urbosa surrendered her arm to her sides, her head following suit as she took a glance toward him.

"Nothing happened that was not already known would," Urbosa explained in labyrinthine clarity, "There's little to discuss."

A stern stare meeting her, Urbosa returned her attention to the flames as Link retorted, "Little to discuss?"

"Yes. We knew that girl was capable of such things. She's the Princess of Hyrule, after all."

Link narrowed his eyes, "Are you forgetting, or just playing stupid?"

"Neither, boy, and I should warn you of such lang-"

"Then you're just feigning ignorance," Link noted plainly, "Even _you_ were shaken by what she did. Even _him_."

Despite not moving, Revali's eyes tensed at being dragged into such a trifling discussion.

"She _has_ no powers- or she _didn't_," Link reminded simply, "Not only does she _have_ them, apparently, now- she's reviving-"

His heart strung at the thought.

Urbosa drew her eyes slim as she confirmed lowly, "Still nothing unexpected, in time."

Link stared her down, utterly confused, as she made clear her intentions while meanderingly poking at the campfire with a nearby twig, speaking soft and matter-of-factly, "We've no reason to distress her further by telling her."

"Wait," Link rubbed his face, "So we're not even going to _tell_ her?"

Urbosa nodded, "Correct."

Sitting there, wincing in astonishment, Link stood up in place, spinning around in place as he ran his hands through his hair in exasperation, "We- What?"

Urbosa shut her eyes to denote her relinquishing of attention toward the topic, though it didn't stop Link from turning back around to glare at her, speaking up almost in anger, "Have you _no_ clue what that woman has put herself through because of those powers, or lack thereof?"

Not even a glance.

"That night at Robbie's, when she came in with that bandage around her arm- that was from _me_ after she commanded me to do so," Link relayed with a biting tone, "Not even mentioning whatever else she's done to herself, trying to eek out whatever water she can from a faucet rusted shut."

"I'm aware," Urbosa noted lowly, "You forget whom she confides."

Link's brow screwed forward in frustration, "Then you know she isn't going to stop until she knows that's she capable of such a thing as magic!"

Finally, Urbosa sighed, her eyes sliding open before locking onto Link, her voice as still as a stone, "And how worse might she become were she to know that, yes, she _has_ those abilities, but cannot wield them."

Link's eyes fell in consideration while Urbosa went on heatedly, "That doubt has been the single most inspiring thing she's had to cling onto. The only reason we're here, now, is because she's trying to do her best despite whatever ails her potential. We're here because, despite what we just saw, she understands that she had more to offer this world."

Shaking her head deliberately, Urbosa concluded, "I'm not _you_. I'm the closest thing to a mother that she has. I say this, not on a whim, but as somebody who has thought about this very moment, poured over it, found restless sleep because of it- I've spent _years_ thinking of this moment."

"And as the closest thing to a mother that Zelda has," Urbosa finally quipped, wielding that maternal power to often left to her wayside, "I'm putting my foot down."

Her eyes coursed narrowly toward Link, "We remain silent."

Link felt a chill run down his spine from the utter finality of those words. His eyes deviated from hers, simply to keep from meeting those ferocious eyes that pierced through toward his soul, and he rubbed his arm in meandering activity.

"I suppose- you have a point," he shrugged, admitting defeat.

"Of course I do," Urbosa sighed, returning her attention once more to the fire, "However-"

She slowly rose to her feet, gaining Link's attention as well as Revali's, as his downturned head gradually rose up just enough for his eyes to watch in forlorn audience. Urbosa patted her hands together, rubbing the palms into circles before reaching out her right hand toward Link.

"Swear to me," she uttered, "On your life. and more importantly, on your stakes as a Champion. Zelda hears not a word of this."

Link's eyes examined her waiting hand. He still felt rotten about such a thing, knowing all too well just how tortured Zelda had become about her lack of abilities. He knew he wouldn't ever be able to look at her the same way again; that withholding such a revelation was akin to a betrayal- a thought that haunted the mind of a soldier. And yet, so far as authorities went, beyond the divine, Link knew that the word of one's mother was quite near comparable.

And in their time together, Link hadn't a doubt that Urbosa was no less worthy of the title than the woman who once bore Zelda herself.

He sighed deeply, shaking his head to signal his defiance, though reached over himself to close the gap, frowning as he did so.

"Still think it's a bad idea…" he grumbled.

Urbosa's head fell to the side, a smarmy sort of grin stretching across her face, "Zelda knowing is not the important thing."

His brow turning curiously, Link's eyes suddenly went wide as Urbosa tugged on his hand, the sudden jolt catching him off guard and off kilter as he flew into Urbosa's torso, leaving her opposite arm to wrap around his shoulders, bringing him into a tactical hold rather than a mere embrace. Link's brow trembled with confusion while Urbosa lowered her lips toward his ear.

"_You_ know," she noted softly, "There _will_ come a time where you must choose between your life, and the life of the Princess."

A grin escaped her.

"Knowing what you do, now- Perhaps that choice will be easier for you to make."

A languid sort of confusion masked Link's abrupt wariness as Urbosa somewhat gently pushed him away from her, relinquishing her grip upon his hand. He watched his wrist as he brought over his hand to relieve it of the sudden rush of strain, looking up to find Urbosa watching him with a somewhat pious look upon her face, as though peering through a prophecy.

The illusion faded near instantly, as Urbosa spun around toward Revali, "Alright, birdbrain; you're next."

"Pah! Me?!" he sputtered aloud, "What have I to do with this?!"

Urbosa noted plainly, "You're a Champion, are you not? Despite our vitriol, I do not discriminate."

She reached out her hand, "On your life, and more-"

"What meaningless drivel," Revali charged, hopping to his feet, "I owe you _nothing_ in the way of oaths."

Urbosa's eyes narrowed, "Then, what if it's _not_ an oath? but a pact. between three warriors."

As though skeptical, if not disgusted, by her insinuation, Revali scowled while recoiling, crossing his arms as he turned to the side, leaving Urbosa to continue, "We've all left blood behind now. Regardless of any ill-will-"

She bit her lip, "You've fought for years for recognition amongst your peers. I don't particularly care about your parentage, or lack thereof, however-"

Her hand shook as if to catch his attention once more, "You've shed blood for this cause. for the woman I've come to see as my daughter. For that, you're a warrior amongst all the others."

Revali's face tensed for a moment, though grew almost peaceful as he peered off into the distance.

He frowned once again as he turned back toward Urbosa, lifting his hand only slightly, allowing his eyes to glance down toward his arm as if in consideration of his future actions.

"I suppose, for such a menial _pact_," he sniveled lowly, "I could make a concession."

Urbosa's hand never wavered, even as she awaited with baited breath while Revali took a step forward, his eyes constricting with distaste as he took her hand with his own, the two shaking upon the formation of this pact of silence.

"Thank you," Urbosa offered.

Revali frowned, "Nothing of the sort is required, I assure you. I would not have said a word, regardless."

He pulled his hand away, shrugging before turning away to leave, "Such a silly demonstration… Pah."

With Revali's eyes no longer upon her, Urbosa allowed herself to smirk, crossing her arms as she lowered her head against her chest, eyes shut while shaking her head in disbelief. She felt Link's presence as he stepped up to her side, though it did little to abate her amusement.

"I don't think oaths count if only one of you lends them an appropriate level of credence," Link complained.

Urbosa's smirk worked its way into a wiry grin as she turned her head to watch Link's sidelong face, "Then why haven't I felt as though Revali was truly a Champion until this night?"

With a silent sort of shock, Link's eyes narrowed feverishly as he attempted to understand Urbosa's words, leaving him unknowing as she stepped away toward the sleeping pack of Champions further down the riverbank, speaking up softly.

"You keep watch. I suddenly feel as though I'm able to get some sleep."

Link watched her, not bothering to answer, seeing as though she had already resigned him to accepting of the role. Still, he was confused by her insinuation that Revali was somehow closer to them now; even by the bird's own attitude, it seemed as though little, if anything, had changed. With Urbosa and Revali settling in for sleep, Link took a seat by the fire, catching wary glances toward Mipha's sleeping form, hoping to remain unhindered by the darkening thoughts creeping up the back of his mind.

Perhaps he wasn't so far removed from the others, Link thought of Revali, before returning his thoughts to Mipha, lest he offer the Rito any more benefits of the doubt.


	55. A Second Rebirth of Sorts

Zelda's eyes broke open like weighted brinks being slid across soil, her body still reeling from the arduous trek up Death Mountain. Upon her waking, she was faced with the searing pain of soreness radiating throughout her body, though , thankfully, it was, at the very least, bearable as she lay there, perhaps in part to the second sensation that came to her.

She was surrounded by warmth and comfort, for a reason wholly unknown to her. Forcing her eyes open, battling the lithe beams of light that broke through the wooden slats of enclosing walls around her, Zelda lowered her head toward her chest, noticing that she was in a bed, swaddled beneath blankets. Her mind slowly began to churn to a start as she looked around, trying her best to recall where she was, her recollections stopping near instantaneous once she rolled back the inner film of herself examining the interior of Vah Rudania.

Everything went blank from there.

Her teeth bared as she seethed painfully, pushing the blankets from atop of her as the muscles in her arm constricted in wary expectation, as though a stone were being held atop of the limb. Even her legs awoke with an intense tenderness as she slowly kicked away the blankets, her body in open rebellion now that it had been woken from its healing reverie, though Zelda understood that she needed answers, perhaps even more than rest- it was how she had operated throughout her entire life.

Namely, she needed to know where she even was.

She gasped as a sharp pain shot through her side as she spun toward the edge of the bed, her feet greeting the chilly wood of the floor with relief as the coolness helped abate the pain. Her eyes peered down the length of her body, watching as she squeezed her toes, even that motion causing a swelling sort of soreness to radiate along her feet. A sigh escaped her, thinking of little else than her own magnificent pain, before her eyes narrowed sharply in realization.

Her hands took hold of the bedside, pushing herself up to her feet before realizing how narrowly she was avoiding falling back onto the bed as her legs quivered beneath the weight of her body. Still, she forced herself upright, squeezing her lips together tightly as she thought of Mipha, praying silently for the Zora's health.

She didn't have to move far. Stumbling with difficulty down the side of the bed, she looked up to find another cot in the room with her, where Mipha currently lay, wrapped up in blankets herself much as Zelda had been, distorting the gentle rocking back and forth of breaths- but they _were_ there. Zelda sighed in relief before sitting back down upon her own bed and falling backward atop the plush covers, figuring her legs needed a break despite her lengthy rest.

Unlike most other bouts of sleep, where one can ascertain, at least somewhat, the passage of time, Zelda could only recognize that she'd been out a tremendous amount, leaving her uncertain of even the week. Still, knowing Mipha was relatively safe -as safe as one can be while simply breathing- there wasn't much else in the way of immediate worry. She had been brought this far, so somebody amongst their Company had to have been physically capable, and willing, leaving Revali rather out of the question. Link, perhaps, could have mounted the task, but he was no less Hylian than she, leaving her with Urbosa and Daruk, and even then, Daruk was worse for wear last she recalled.

Urbosa. Of course. Zelda sighed, wondering for a moment how such an event might have damaged the Gerudo's impression of her. Would Zelda's rampant pursuit of knowledge be admirable? or simply misunderstood as foolishness?

Whatever the case, she began to dread the stern lecture she was sure to receive. She ran her hands up her face, grumbling dreadfully against her skin. The warmth of her palms covered her face, comforting her, as she noticed just how long she'd been without even this. So intense had been the heat of Death Mountain- she'd forgotten how tender heat could feel when slid atop her skin by way of another, even if, at this moment, it was her own.

Lazily enough, she pushed herself back up, sitting there atop the edge of the bed, watching Mipha curiously enough, as though making certain she were alive and breathing. Oddly enough, Link wasn't by her side, suddenly causing an alarm to ring out within Zelda's head, wondering if he, himself, had been brought to such a lowly state.

That curiosity overcame her dread of Urbosa's lecture, and Zelda slowly made it to her feet once again, feeling her muscles contracting not as severely this time around. Even so, the soreness radiated like knives into her legs, and she sneered languidly as she stumbled toward the doorway, giving the knob a tender grasp before making her way out.

Her surroundings resembled the many stables across Hyrule, leaving her to presume that she'd been brought to Foothill Stable, given its relative proximity to the mountains of Eldin. Unable to withhold her fretful thoughts of the trouble whomever brought her here must have had, Zelda nonetheless remained stoic in her exit, which wasn't difficult, as the searing pain tearing through her legs was enough to keep her face ascowl rather than one of concern.

As she rounded the interior, her suspicions were confirmed as she entered the vestibule of the stable, allowing her to peer out into the distance to find the edge of Eldin curling along its preordained path along the northern edge of Hyrule. She only took a moment to relish in the awe of the sight before her legs reminded her of rest, forcing her to wobble her way along, growing ever desperate for the communal seating just beyond the stable's entryway.

Stepping out onto the delicate grass beneath her feet, a soothing sense of relief washed over Zelda as she heard Daruk's voice, mellifluous as it was after such worry had troubled her.

"-might not even a clue," he concluded, "I suppose- Gah!"

Link's voice joined him, "Hold still, then. Goddess, you're made of _rock_. How can you even feel this?"

Zelda wormed her way down the steps of the stable's entrance, her feet pitter-pattering with rough-hewn gait as she rounded the corner, only to stop in her track, a pair of crestfallen eyes turning upon her face with anguish at the sight before her.

"It still hurts," Daruk grumbled lowly as Link tore away the bits of charred rock that covered his shoulders, "As we age, we only calcify all the more- GAH!"

Link drew a chisel into the gap between a frayed stone that had come splayed apart from Daruk's body, in a split second throwing his body toward the ground and sending the flat-headed device through the rough patch of blackened rock. Daruk immediately curled forward as pain shot through him, a massive growl breaking through the air as Link regrouped, taking a sharp breath as he massaged the rough shard of rock now half-hanging from Daruk's body.

"Goddess…" Daruk exclaimed quietly, covering his face as he cowered amidst the pain.

Link's lips worked into a tremulous tug as he watched his friend in such a lowly state, asking once again, "You sure you want to do this?"

A sigh escaped Daruk as he nodded behind his hands, "It must be done. If it remains, it'll only corrode and make me more brittle than- Oh…"

His head had turned as he left the secretive place among his hands, finding Zelda watching with abject sorrow, all while shaking in place above weakening legs. Link caught on, glancing at what had brought the Goron to such an anguished interruption, the sight of Zelda's quivering legs forcing him toward her in a hurried pace, nearing her as she began to sway more and more violently.

"Whoa, now," Link noted simply as he caught her, wrapping an arm around her back to steady her, "You shouldn't be up if your muscles aren't ready."

Without any credence for Link's words, Zelda's voice escaped underneath watery eyes as her hands reached of to grab hold of Link herself, fearing her body's imminent descent toward the ground, "D- Daruk…"

The Goron frowned as he turned his head to examine his shoulder, shrugging as he attempted to wear an unconvincing grin, "Bah. It's nothing. In this case, the sooner truly is better- it'll only get worse."

Zelda's eyesight found its way concealed behind tearful reverie as Link attempted to help her along, "Come on, let's get you sat down, alright?"

With her eyes weakened, Zelda dropped her head, attempting meagerly to watch her steps, but to little avail, leaving Link to note feebly, "I'd carry you if I could, but- I took a bit of a tumble down the mountain."

"_Tumble_," Daruk emulated with a weak smile, "Looked like you'd decided to dress up as the mountain itself for some masquerade ball."

Frowning, Link chided weakly, "Okay, a big tumble, but-"

A stumble.

"Hey. Hey, now," Link guided, careful to keep Zelda aloft despite her weakening steps.

As she had descended, in an instinctive attempt at catching herself, Zelda had thrown her free arm toward the only brace she had, aiming her hand toward Link's stomach as she did so, only for a furtive realization to come across her as she did so, having felt the unmistakable feeling of padded material, as if in bandage, all across the soldier's torso.

"Alright, then," Link sighed as the two stepped warily toward a nearby stool, slowly lowering Zelda onto the seat as he himself held back a pained groan at the added weight, muttering with tremendous relief once she was sat down, "There we go, now. Whew."

Daruk smiled rather darkly as he spoke up, "Perhaps these rocks aren't as bad as muscles."

"Hey now," Link warned with a tinge of playfulness, "Muscles can recover. All this'll do is strengthen them in the long run."

An amused chuckle left Daruk as though in dismissal of Link's excuse, leaving the soldier to retort, "Oh, like your rocks are so-"

His attention suddenly broke away as he felt the feeling of his shirt being pulled from him, forcing his eyes downward to catch Zelda's hand grasping his shirt, pulling it up to reveal the endless strands of bandages that circled around his stomach, etched across with red, sickly strands of dried blood that left the white gauze nearly ironic by its very presence. Link's brow furrowed with worry as he watched Zelda's already strained face growing ever more tremulous.

He felt her grasp on his shirt tighten as guilt rushed through her.

"It's nothing," he assured easily, trying to push her hand away, though as if hoping to sprain the sight of her soldier in such distress, by her own hand, into her very soul, Zelda remained obstinate as she stared at the gory sight.

He explained meekly, "I must've slid against a sharp rock of something when I fell. No big deal, really; it's just another- injury."

His voice paused for a brief moment as Zelda raised a timid hand toward him, leaving him astonished as she reached over, pressing an open palm against the bandages atop his stomach. Link's expression melted away from apprehension to sorrow, understanding what it was that she was attempting to do.

Her entire life, having lived behind closed doors, Zelda was left to see only the brightest of what the Kingdom of Hyrule had to offer in terms of its soldiership. The generals she was raised around, like Captain Ruzoll, were men and women far larger than life itself; the soldiers she came across, always those protected by the city itself. Very rarely had she been required to face reality so intensely, she thought, as she stared upon the consequence of her own order.

For Link's role as her knight, her bodyguard- she had led him to this- and not merely him alone. Daruk, Mipha- Her heart began to tug, racked with guilt welling up within her, knowing she had nearly driven Mipha to death, if not everybody.

She was the Princess. Their leader.

It was on her, she knew, better than she ever had before.

Link's face softened as she pressed her hand against him, willing herself to heal what she had wrought. He could feel her fingers sternly placed atop the bandages, though time only brought them to life, becoming feverishly shivered digits against his body. Zelda's lips began to tremble as her body, once again, refused to cooperate. She held her breath, pressed harder against his stomach, even as he winced. Her teeth ground down upon her tongue as her heart began to race, tears streaming down her face, her own stomach wrapped up into an infinite spiral of knots as nausea burst through her body, leaving-

In the stroke of a second, Zelda reflexively spun away from Link as she felt the sickening rush of bile reaching up her throat, though her legs refused to move, sending her body clear off the stool and onto the soil below as she held herself up on shaking arms while throwing up, that nausea nearly acting as some sick prank of her body.

The projection of retched liquid, combined with the seizing bouts of clenching within her stomach left her quivering there on all fours as Link immediately fell to one knee, tenderly taking her hair into his hands before consolidating her locks into one at her side, allowing his free hand to rub against her back, watching painfully her immense distraught at her own body's inadequacy- a state, Link knew, was unnecessary now.

"It's gonna be okay," he assured softly.

"No, it's not!" Zelda whimpered as her body roiled with impending nausea, her voice rumbling like an endlessly deep river that just spun asunder, "You _all_ could have died, and- and-"

Another wave of nausea forced her body to retch again, leaving her gasping for breath between the taste of bile and tears that lined her lips.

"I'm responsible for you all," she reasoned in between shaking tones, "And I'm supposed to- to heal people and-"

She shook her head, a sniffle breaking the air before she muttered quietly, "Why can't _I_ die..? Why is _my_ well-being assured while all of you-"

"Because we all know our place," came Daruk's voice, alleviating Link's terror at having to reply himself.

His approaching steps sent relaxing rumbles through the earth, his lowly, resounding voice offering whatever help he could, "The best thing about not knowing your destiny is that it could be anything. Perhaps something utterly tremendous."

Link's mind rushed back to the sheer miracle that had gone unnoticed by Daruk, thinking of the breath of life having been given back to Mipha by Zelda's hand.

His heart gripped at his chest.

"If it's _our_ destiny to help you discover yours," Daruk chuckled, "Considering such promise within you- I can't say I wouldn't mind putting up with a little roughened edges."

Zelda's shoulders shook beneath Link's tender grip, "I'm not going to let anybody die just to-"

"Now, enough of that," Daruk suddenly instructed, stopping Zelda in her tracks, "You're not responsible for me any more than Link, or Urbosa- even Revali. We're Champions, are we not? Sure, there was some secrecy at first, but- At the end of the day, we choose to be here, because we believe in you. in what you've started here."

He clicked his tongue as though he were a royal tutor chastising his student, "Go around! I'm sure you'll hear much the same from every- Well, perhaps not Revali, but certainly everybody else!"

Zelda's shoulders quaked as she turned her head to the side, eying Link sidelong from her prostrated position, trying her best to hide her addled face as she asked nearly in a whisper due to her frayed throat.

"..you?"

He recalled Mipha's miraculous recovery once more, his reply coming with no hesitation.

"I think your best is yet to come," he replied lowly, his own guilt causing his chest to constrict, knowing he had far more to offer her in the way of a reply.

As if to collect her thoughts, Zelda dropped her head once again, taking empty breaths as Link gently dropped her hair to hang atrickle down the side of her head, holding gently onto her shoulders to help her up, "Now, _looking_ your best is a present issue."

Zelda groaned, shaking her head warily while Link only offered a teasing grin as he worked out a handkerchief from his pocket to tenderly stroke across her face.

"I'm a bit impressed," he admitted wryly, "You haven't eaten a thing for days- I'm surprised you were even able to throw up."

A grumble escaped Zelda's disheveled face.

"Shut up…"

Link smirked as he continued tending to her face, "Maybe that's your magic. Just manifesting food into your gut. Would explain your infinite energy, though- I suppose those childhood midnight snack runs were more foolhardy."

A weak, amused grin broke across Zelda's face before she dropped her head, trying to conceal her brightened expression as it so contradicted how she felt. Still, she appreciated Link's attempt to cheer her up, as well as his knowledge of her sort of humor.

"Hmm," came Daruk's own curious growl, "Suddenly, I'm far more interested in your destiny. 'The Bountiful Queen Zelda' is far more intriguing than anything scholarly, you know."

Link smirked, dotting Zelda's eyes free from their tear stains as he explained, "The 'infinite banquet'. A Goron story as old as time itself."

Zelda couldn't help but break into a broken giggle as Link rolled his eyes, "I doubt Hylia's bountiful goodness would involve rock stew…"

"You don't know that!" Daruk challenged petulantly, as though fighting for such an event right then and there.

His eyes locking onto Zelda's before rolling them once more, Link shook his head as he finished clearing up her face, leaving it only with those red stains of tears that only time could wash away. He gently took hold of her and brought her back onto the stool, leaving her in plain view of her two companions, leaving her far more self-conscious given her wretched display a moment earlier.

"I'll get you some milk," Link offered attentively, patting Daruk's shoulder as he strode behind the Goron toward the stable.

Daruk nodded in reply, taking the reigns of protection from the Hylian as he cleared his throat, his eyes peering toward the distance as he absently spoke up, "I, uh, hope you aren't reviled by my- less than ideal appearance."

Zelda shook with astonishment, understanding how ghastly of a state she herself was in, catching Daruk as he spun around to examine the charred lengths of black rock that ran across his body.

"Gorons usually perish before such extensive damage occurs, but-" he muttered softly, "I dunno."

He grinned, thinking of Link's words back within the tunnels of the Eldin Range murmuring to himself, "Perhaps it was simply my time."

Bringing a hand up to shield her face, Zelda turned away with a nervous grin, "_You_ being reviled? I must look like a troll right now…"

"What?!" Daruk spoke with a start as though personally offended, a face of astonishment shone upon his face, "Why, Zelda! You still radiate with the beauty of the rising sun!"

Such a thing might have forced a blush had she not known it were merely a compliment. As it were, she remained evasive, even as Daruk's lips curled with intrigue as he reached out to take her arm, gently pulling it from her face, which she allowed without any guff.

"Now, there's a face!" he marveled.

Zelda shook her head, though she giggled nonetheless at his insistence, leaving Daruk to explain, "That's the face of a warrior, it is! You know, all the greatest warriors wear their scars proudly! and for one such as you-"

He took her shoulder with a tender pat, "It takes courage to remain strong even when there are tears."

Zelda gave a weak smile, though her reply was wholly sincere, "…thank you."

"Roar."

Her eye's turned, "I beg your pardon?"

"Well?! A warrior must roar, right?" Daruk commented, "It's in the name, is it not? Roar-ior?"

Zelda's brow narrowed unevenly, "I- I don't think-"

"So roar! Come on, I'll do it with you!" Daruk goaded, "Bwar! Like that- Bwar!"

Shivering, now, not due to her guilt or illness, but due to sheer embarrassment, Zelda simply watched Daruk as the Goron stood up, slamming a fist into his chest as a precursor to, yet, another massive roar that sent a nearby tree abluster with activity once a nest of birds broke through the air.

"BWAAAR! Let's hear it!" Daruk went on, "Bwaaar!"

Zelda bit her lip, though she could feel her emotions swelling up within her. Somewhere, within the most primal vestiges of her mind, she felt as though such a thing was just what she needed. All that guilt within her, all that sorrow, all that inferiority, the pain, the anger- everything. She couldn't simply scream like some banshee, but-

"No need to be embarrassed!" Daruk assured, "Come on! Just-!"

"Roooar," Zelda replied, albeit with a timidity that found its way throughout her timbre.

Daruk flew into a marvelous daze, throwing his hands up in triumph, "YES! Now roar! Roar!"

"WhaaAAA!" Zelda shouted.

"BwaaAAAR!"

Zelda clutched the edges of her stool until her fingers went numb, throwing her body forward as she expelled every ounce of breath from her lungs, "BWAAAAAA!"

"RWRAAAAAAR!"

"WAAAAAAA!"

Urbosa strode into the campfire circle with a look of utter confusion upon her face, watching the shouting match with an intensely mounting bewilderment, matched by a rising sense of embarrassment, forcing her to simply drop the firewood in her hands onto the ground mid-stride as she approached the two.

"WAAAAAAHH!"

"BWAAAAAWRRR!"

She threw her hands up, yelling vigorously herself, "YO! You two! knuckleheads!"

Her choice of word caught their attention as much as her tone, leaving Daruk and Zelda to turn toward her with befuddled looks of their own, before the two of them burst into laughter, an amalgamation of their realizing how much like fools that had appeared as well as Urbosa's declaring of them to be knuckleheads. Daruk grasped his knotted stomach as he tried to suppress his laughter, while Zelda painfully coiled up, attempting to keep her muscles from constricting with every burst of laughter.

Urbosa, for her part, simply stood with wavering astonishment at the scene she had returned to. Not only was Zelda among the waking, but she had taken to bestial growls- no doubt some side effect of whatever residual ails the journey had taken upon her. or, perhaps, Daruk had merely taken her to such extremes.

"People are going to stare," Urbosa frowned, her eyes scanning the stable for any wayward glances.

Chuckling, Daruk shook his head, "Do not fret, my dear Urbosa. She's taken quite readily to such clamoring of authority! I'm quite surprised, actually. The only glances she'll receive are those of apprehension, I assure you!"

Her emotions having dwindled back to within their normal range, Zelda hid a blush, taking the compliment only in stride, knowing that she wouldn't have ever chosen for such a thing to be said about her. Even her yelling now made her embarrassed underneath Urbosa's scrutinizing glare.

Still, after a sigh, Urbosa relegated herself to the generally haphazard atmosphere of the Company, merely shrugging as she smirked, "Well, when have _I_ ever been known for decorum."

"Bwah ha ha! Now that's the spirit," Daruk laughed, stepping out of the way as Urbosa approached the Princess.

Kneeling in front of her, Urbosa reached over to hold Zelda's face still, examining her eyes as she tilted her own head from side to side, "Feeling okay? Anything feel out of sorts?"

"My stomach's still a bit uneasy," Zelda noted softly.

Urbosa's brow flew forward in furious inquiry as she spoke up loud, "Why?! Did Daruk's activity throw your guts out of whack?!"

"No!" Zelda replied, catching Daruk's offended expression as she explained, "I just- I guess just the last few days caught up to me all at once, and- I just threw up a while ago."

Urbosa examined her thoroughly. Their eyes met as Urbosa peered deep into Zelda's face, causing a sensation of curiosity within the Princess that quickly turned into embarrassment, turning her head away as she muttered, "Q- Quit it… I look a fright."

"Just checking on you. Your mother would have me lashed were she to know I allowed you to do half of the things you've done on this excursion," Urbosa noted with a mischievous sort of grin, "The least I can do is assure her spirit of my guidance over you."

Zelda's eyes fell with a pang of sorrow at the thought, though she quickly jolted back into shape as Urbosa stood back up, resting her hands upon her hips as she looked over Zelda once more, "Well, so long as you're feeling better."

A weak smile spread across Zelda's face, "Actually, I suppose I do."

Nodding, Urbosa instructed, "Well then, so long as you're needing to readjust your muscles to movement, as I suspected, make sure you have somebody helping you around until you can walk on your own, alright?"

She sighed, crossing her arms as she glanced over toward the stable, "So long as Mipha continues her sleep, you've nothing but time to rest and recover."

Zelda followed her eyes, wondering quietly, "Is she…"

"She's fine," Urbosa concluded as Zelda's voice petered out of existence, "Much in the same boat as you were. As long as she breathes, she simply needs some rest."

"Poor thing," Daruk sighed while shaking his head, "We've been making sure to keep her skin whetted, and while her body seems to be improving, she doesn't seem ready to wake quite yet."

Urbosa nodded, "She wouldn't have even made it _this_ far if not for Daruk stomping his way down the mountain."

"What happened?" Zelda inquired solemnly.

Her eyes steady, Urbosa relayed simply enough, "Daruk took her and leapt his way down the mountainside. By the time we all arrived, he was passed out, but not before Mipha lay in within the shallow waters of the nearby lake. Worse for wear- but breathing."

Zelda lowered her head, leading to Urbosa clasping her hands together, her stoic face betraying the brilliance in her voice, "Alright, enough of this. We're all here, are we not? The only event such things call for is celebration."

"Well," came Link's voice as he strode into the campfire circle, "Not _all_ of us…"

Urbosa boasted, "In a manner of speaking, of course! I don't- Boy, is that milk? Did you have to milk the cow to get it?"

Zelda giggled.

Brow furrowed, Link eyed the Gerudo, "As a matter of fact, I did. Of course, you wouldn't know much about that, your highness."

"Oh ho. Watch your tongue, child," Urbosa warned behind a teasing grin, "You should not patronize a Gerudo chieftain."

Link shrugged, "Apologies. After your many days of treating Zelda like a newborn, I must've forgotten."

"I-! You-!" Urbosa stammered in nervous realization, turning to find Zelda with her face covered, hiding a laugh as Urbosa frowned, assuring her plainly, "It wasn't-"

She turned toward Link, "I'll have you know, such maternal instinct is prized amongst us Gerudo, among the abilities of combat that make it a mistake for you to tease me for such a thing."

"Like that's stopped me before," he pithily replied beneath a hearty chuckle from Daruk, bending low to hand Zelda the cup of milk, "There you go."

She smiled, "Thank you. You know, your notebook-"

Link gave her a wave of dismissal, "I'll get it later. You just do as, I'm sure, Urbosa has instructed. Even soldiers need rest."

He gave her a gentle pat along her arm, where he had once sliced her skin open, leaving Zelda with a melancholic smile as she peered into the milk, watching it ripple throughout as her hands shook without instruction. Taking a sip, erasing the vile taste that had been stuck in her mouth, she nearly felt cleansed, inside and out.

"Step off!" she heard Link shout aloud.

Urbosa challenged, "Make me, boy!"

"Daruk!" Link directed, "Give me a hand!"

"Against her?! You might be on your own, Brother!"

"Daruk?!"

Urbosa chuckled, "Again, make me!"

Slowly, Zelda's head fell, concealing the smile on her face.


	56. New Leaves

Four days had passed with the Champions finding refuge beneath the hollow stable that sat in the shadow of Death Mountain, an ominous sight, still, as the entire Eldin mountain range cast overtop their every sight. While much of the Company's wounds were slow healing, there was still Mipha, whose condition had remained as stagnant as the most still of waters. Time seemed to have been brought to a standstill for as long as she lay there, particularly in the case of Link, who remained vigilant in her care, while still taking care of his own matters.

So long as their stay was to be unusually lengthy in terms of the stable's usually nomadic clientele, Urbosa had made an adamant command for the troupe to do what they could in terms of assistance, resulting in Link being given a handful of chores to partake in, as well as the others. Gathering firewood for the endless flames of the campfire, catching fish for meals, and during one particularly blustery day, Revali was tasked with returning a few ornamental knick-knacks to the top of the stables massive equine centerpiece that loomed atop the entire plaza.

Trudging back to camp with a bag of stones dragging along behind him, Link ground his teeth as he noticed the encroaching sight of the stable, the soft glow of flames breaking through the dusky atmosphere like lanternlight within a cave. He heaved his shoulders along, making the final stretch of the day's journey before dropping his arms and relinquishing the bag as he entered the stable grounds. Stomping toward the campfire, he fell onto a cedar chair, sinking low as he growled.

"Tough day, eh?" Daruk chuckled teasingly, "I told you to leave the stone collecting to me."

Link shook his head, "And leave you to double duty? Like I could have removed that pileup of boulders down near the spring."

A snicker arose from Urbosa as she smirked, eying Daruk from a sidelong glance, "That was his fault, anyway."

Daruk returned a look of dismay, sighing, "It's not as if I- Link, I didn't-"

"Don't worry about it," Link grumbled, shaking his head, "You're only playing into a bored Gerudo's games."

Urbosa chuckled at the insinuation, though little else came from the conversation as Link slid deeper into his chair, feeling the weight of exhaustion tearing at every muscle. Along the way back, his mind had wandered toward those hot springs up in Lanayru- how he so wished to slip into one at this moment.

His eyes had fallen lazily at the thought, forcing Link to widen them in retaliation, hoping to keep his sleep schedule proper, though that was better said than done. His eyes wandered along the landscape before him, hoping his focus would keep him awake; he scanned Daruk's large frame, the campfire, counting the longs that had yet to fully incinerate. There was Urbosa patching up some of her equipment which had torn during their ascent.

His eyes narrowed, however, as they came upon Zelda. She remained upright in the same chair she'd been in when Link had departed in the morning, still clad in her pajamas, much to her own frustration, Urbosa having ordered her to remain as such, perhaps knowing that Zelda wouldn't dare scurry off in such attire. It wasn't her clothing that had caught Link's attention, but what she was working on; in her lap lay a bolt of cloth, her fingers diligently pulling at largely blue fabric before tearing it carefully, working together something of a project.

His eyes watched curiously for a moment before Daruk's voice broke the air, his boisterous attitude returning merely to spite the approaching Rito, "Well, hello there, friend!"

"Tch," Revali scoffed lightly, twisting his head in disgust, but otherwise remaining silent as he found a seat if his own.

"How'd it go?" Urbosa wondered sincerely, her head still buried in her work.

With a scoff came Revali's reply, his head shaking, "I now know why Rito who grow to become messengers are low on the hierarchy."

He wiped his face with a towel, "Stupid bugs. Flew through eight swarms of 'em during the route."

"Well, at least you learned something," Urbosa muttered instructively.

Revali eyed her critically, "What is this, a children's fairy tale?! All I've learned is that I would rather find myself without shelter than perform such grunt work ever again. Spare me the constructive feedback, please."

"At least," came a chuckle from Link, "The bug spatter on your face makes you more agreeable to the eyes."

Daruk laughed, leaving a wry glance on Revali's face as he seethed, "I assure you, my best work is done without my face being the focal point."

Link's body jolted forward in exaggerated surprise, his eyes meeting Daruk's as the Goron marveled as well, leaving Link, alone, to comment with wonderment, "Did you just make a joke?!"

Rolling his eyes, Revali sunk into his seat, "Have your fun, you two."

"No! No! This is big news!" Link goaded, "Urbosa! You heard, right?!"

The Gerudo screwed her eyes up toward him, "Quit while you're ahead boy."

Link groaned, but still gave a smug grin toward Daruk, the two of them equally surprised by Revali's sudden burst of humor that so often was devoid from him.

"Still," Urbosa murmured, eying the Rito, "Nice one."

Revali rolled his eyes as he shrugged, "So long as you all recognize my penchant for whimsy on top of all my other self-aggrandizement."

"Not even afraid to admit it," Daruk chuckled, "How're your wings coming along?"

Scoffing, Revali shot back, "Horrible. At this rate, I'll have no recourse but to regrow the lot of my plumage, matted as it is."

Link raised his hand, leaning forward in his seat before exuberant relating, "I volunteer to yank 'em all out."

The Rito displayed a sniveling smile as he stared toward Link, "Only if I get first dibs at _your_ nails, Hylian."

"After everything up on that mountain-" Link began, returning to his sunken pose within the seat, "I doubt fingernails being stripped would be much of a chore."

His mind had centered upon that heartache at watching Mipha die within those same arms Link had touted to protection, though Daruk had a clearly different interpretation of Link's words.

"You're telling me!" Daruk roared, "Stick a pick axe in me; I doubt I'd experience much the same sensation as I felt with magma rolling down my body."

As they spoke of their injuries, Urbosa's eyes slowly crawled in the direction of Zelda. Where the Princess' hands had once been hard at work with the bolt of linen in her lap, her hands had gone still while her head fell, darkened by the topic at hand.

Urbosa grumbled in complaint, "Come on; you guys gonna talk about something else for once?"

Daruk turned toward her, brow furrowed, "Wha- We've only started dis-"

"Enough of that," Urbosa charged, her protective zeal causing Link to return his eyes toward Zelda, discovering what the Gerudo had.

Clearing her throat, Urbosa dropped her patchwork piece of clothing onto her lap before turning up toward the others, speaking up determinately, as though she had returned to a position of leadership, "Since we're all here for once, sans Mipha- We have Zelda with us, so I suppose now would be as good of a time to review the notes she compiled."

"Tch," Revali scoffed.

Urbosa rolled her eyes, "The notes she, _and_ _Revali_, compiled."

The Rito crossed his arms with quiet pride as Urbosa continued, "Link. You have your notebook back?"

"Uh, yeah," Link muttered, breaking his attention aware from Zelda's downtrodden look, "Just- Yeah, here we go."

Having slipped the thin book of parchment paper from his pocket, Link began to flip through what had been compiled, what had been re-compiled from his memory after Captain Ruzoll's slight, before coming across Zelda's prim scrawl, indicative of the interminable number of hours she must've spent cooped up within those marble walls.

"Alright," he began, looking over the crudely drawn image of Vah Rudania, with Revali's points of interest that, once again, remained uniform with the rest of the Divine Beasts, "Let's see. We have the different panels that seem to match the others, just arranged differently, with, yet, another master panel of sorts."

Urbosa slid a hand across her face, "So, once again, they do appear to be similar in design."

Looking up toward Revali, she inquired, "Did you happen to see any power source?"

"No," Revali charged back grumpily, "And _excuse_ me if you felt it necessary to risk roasting myself alive while exploring _underneath_ the thing."

Urbosa's eyes meandered away in exasperation as Link took the chance, "Would've been nice to have some cuckoo for dinner."

Revali shot Link a glance while Urbosa leaned into herself, tugging at her chin in thought as she spoke up coolly, "There was something about this one, though…"

The others turned to her, with even Zelda's downcast eyes following the others, leaving Urbosa to explain simply, "What were the odds that the Beast was exactly where we needed it to be?"

Zelda's eyes shook as they watched Urbosa's face twist subtly in deepening thought, with Daruk supposing simply, "I mean, it never leaves the peak of the mountain. There's only so many places it could've been."

"But-" Zelda's voice broke through, nearly in a chill, sending the other Champions' face twisting back around to find her, leaving the young woman with an audience to entertain with a lowly tone, "-Vah Rudania was pressed against the cliffside. I thought it only did that to divert lava flow, but- _Within_ the crater..?"

Daruk's brow curled.

"If that Beast doesn't act unnaturally- Urbosa could not have tossed Daruk onto it. We might have been toast, or at the very most, sitting within the magma of Death Mountain at this moment."

Link clasped his hand together as he slid forward in his seat, "There was- Did you all hear those four massive quakes while we were still within the mountain itself? They rang out like blistering clangs of the largest bells in the Temple of Time."

"I did," Urbosa nodded, muttering, "You think that was the Beast clamoring into position?"

Link turned to her, "Not me-"

He spun his hand around, revealing the open page of the notebook to the Gerudo, "But Zelda does."

Urbosa narrowed her eyes, examining the drawing of Vah Rudania constructed by Zelda herself. Where the four feet has been labeled, Zelda had ornately scribbled some jotting of notes there, most notably- 'four quakes? Waiting for us?'. The Gerudo watched the parchment paper with interest before turning toward Zelda with a distant glance.

"You aren't thinking-"

"But what if it's true?" Zelda uttered, "What if they _are_ something of sentient beings? Navo knows it to be true and-"

"-and if we offered credence to any old kook yammering about how they can breed striped cuccoos with a striped branch, we'd be believing a litany of insane things," Revali suddenly noted aloud, which caught most everybody off guard.

Urbosa sighed, "I mean, he's right. I'm as perplexed as anyone, but- So far as we know, we were simply incredibly lucky. At the end of the day, those Beasts are machines- little more than works of construction. We know they draw power from some external source, and let's not forget that the ancient Sheikah required pilots, themselves. Even if we granted Vah Rudania that single moment- nothing much spectacular happens with Vah Naboris or Vah Ruta, correct?"

Zelda lowered her head, "I- suppose you're right…"

"Now, if Vah Medoh sees us coming and perches itself right smack-dab atop the plains to allow us passage," Urbosa went on, "There might be a point, but-"

She sighed, "We're going in blind to begin with. We shouldn't be jumping to conclusions, right?"

Zelda bit her lip. Despite her bruised ego that felt like roiling grease within her gut, she nodded her head, knowing better than that, herself, given her scholarly background. She took a deep breath to quell her nerves before replying to Urbosa.

"Correct."

With a maternal air, Urbosa nodded in agreement before pulling back into her seat, allowing Link back into his own, leaving with a heartfelt praise, "But keep up with those notes, child. You could very well be onto something, despite my pleas."

Zelda smirked weakly, "I thought you never pleaded."

"When it gets her what she wants," Link surmised with a grin, "She'll do whatever."

Rolling her eyes, Urbosa stuck her tongue out toward the two Hylians before returning to her patch work, muttering in reply, "Have your fun, children. We've an even more arduous leg of this journey ahead of us."

"Not when Vah Medoh lands atop the plains to allow us passage!," Daruk chuckled massively, leaving Urbosa with a frown.

She shrugged, "You know what? I cede the floor. You all, go about your prattling, please."

Daruk took the opportunity to interject his favorite topic of discussion while the air remained vacant, his booming voice rising like the tide as he spoke up, "Well, then! What's for dinner?!"

Noticing the Goron's expectant gaze, Link grumbled, "Don't look at me. I'm took tired. If we'd had some of that fried cuckoo, I _might_ be more willing to, but-"

"Let it be known," Revali sneered, "That of the Rito who _did_ hunt down and feast off Hylians, such an event was said to be akin, in taste, to eating roasted cuckoo."

"Well then, we nearly had _three_ feather brains up there," Link sighed, "Instead of our usual two, anyway."

Zelda peeked up from her lowered head just enough for Link to catch her smirk, forcing Link to reach his leg over to give her a playful tap with his foot.

Urbosa nearly growled as she dropped her work once again, "It was _not_ my intention to-!"

She caught the two Hylian's grins, leaving Urbosa to frown while biting her tongue, acknowledging, simply, Link's attempt at riling her up, "Well played…"

Daruk chuckled, "I suppose the score, now, is one to thirty-seven?"

"Making up ground," Link shrugged with a smirk, "As for dinner, I suppose if the stable hands aren't preparing a communal supper-"

"Oh!" Daruk quickly rose to his feet, "A feast _and_ friends! A Goron's night could not shine any brighter!"

His fingers wiggling expectantly, Daruk pattered toward the stable like a hunger-crazed zombie, licking his lips as he did so, leaving the others taking glances at one another as if to see who, next, would succumb to their appetites.

"Well," Revali suddenly regaled, pushing himself to his feet, a pithy voice leaving him, "I _suppose_ I could debase myself."

He strolled away. Zelda's brow curled with confusion as she turned toward Link and Urbosa, the Gerudo still ensconced with her patchwork.

"What, uh-" the Princess stammered, "What exactly happened while I was out..? Revali wouldn't ever-"

Shrugging, Urbosa surmised simply, "He's turning to new feathers. Perhaps he simply is turning a new leaf as well."

"I suppose so, but-" Zelda muttered in confusion as she turned to watch Revali sauntering toward the stable to sate his hunger, "That's a _big_ leaf, isn't it?"


	57. Life's Echo

A chill.

Mipha's eyes slowly began to open, peering ever so weakly up toward the dark ceiling that sheltered her. As though her mind had yet to awaken, itself, her eyes simply took in that muddled, cloudy shade of darkened chestnut, almost unaware of what it even was. She took in the form, but her mind couldn't properly translate what it was or even what purpose it was. Instinctively, her eyes narrowed, her spinal cord churning with electricity as it wondered whether to be frightened or to fight, her body entering into mutiny. Her brain stem began to make primal decisions that her body could not take action toward. Her mind, switched off, couldn't even process the mounting terror of uncertainty.

All she could feel was that chill. That chill of having awoken, depriving herself of that strange sleep that had taken her without warning.

Suddenly, in a sharp second of surreal shock, her brain lit up, a heavy breath heaving in through her gills, taking in the musky air beneath the blankets that covered her, eyes widening in realization.

"Mipha," she suddenly heard, the downturned intonation indicating that it was being repeated.

Might that have been what returned her to this state?

She suddenly loosened an exhale as her head arose from her pillow, catching the faint appearance of Link in the darkness, his eyes glinting like pearlescent topaz as he watched her, worryingly.

It was him. The owner of that warmth that had traveled with her throughout that odd sleep. That warmth that had been all she could recognize in that span of nothingness.

"Are you okay?" Link asked tenderly, carefully placing what had been in his hands onto the chest of drawers he'd been leaning on before steadily approaching the side of Mipha's bed, "You're not-"

He paused, cautiously. That look in her eyes was one of fright- of one who hadn't a clue upon whom they were looking. For a moment, Link's heart sank as he paused, watching this Zora Princess with weakness in his own eyes.

In a split span of time that might have lasted lifetimes, a hollow breath finally left Mipha, a raspy sort of thing, as she noted, "..Link."

A shaking breath split from Link's body as he started up once more, hastening his pace before falling to his knees at Mipha's bedside, pressing his hand tightly into the mattress as he peered into those eyes that had followed him, resulting in Mipha's head turning to its side, even amidst the aching motion compelling her to remain still otherwise.

"M-" Link battled for language, suddenly eeking out, "Mipha-…"

Vibration tore through his body. Not by any external force, but by his own trembling form. In that moment, Link realized he needed to anchor himself to the only part of this world worth latching onto- the only part ready to accept him in such a sullen state.

He reached over to Mipha's face, resting his palm against her cheek, sending the Zora's eyes closed once again as the welcoming warmth permeated across her chillingly frosty scales. This man's warmth, she recognized, only made her realize just how cold she became in his absence.

"Mipha-" Link repeated, almost tasting the sounds in hopes of its sweetness combatting the bitter terror still needing to be reigned in within his gut.

At the sound of her name, feeling that warmth, Mipha let loose a near-sickly smile, as weak as Link had ever seen upon her- but it was there. It was there, when such an occurrence, at all, seemed to have met its bitter end.

Link released a shaking chuckle, his relief manifesting as such, before running his hand up her face, delicately tucking her crown's fin back behind her head, the tender length of skin having half-slid down her face.

"Look at you," Link smiled weakly, "You _look_ like you've been asleep for a week. I didn't think Zoras could get bed-head, but-"

He grinned widely at his bout of humor, the sight of which caused Mipha to smile herself. A flimsy breath left Link as he watched her beauty flash with such a serene stretch of her lips. He shook his head in disbelief before reaching in close, resting his own lips upon the crest at her forehead.

"That tickles," came her voice, echoing as if in ghostly revelation.

Link grinned, making sure to keep his lips against her scales as he did so, leaving her to decipher that movement while he replied, "Sorry."

Silent elation settling in, Link returned his lips to kiss her, leaving Mipha to complain in slavish reply to her body's exhaustion, "Then why do you keep doing it..?"

"Sorry," Link replied, finally pulling away with a smile of his own signaling his happiness, "I'm just-"

Once again, words failed the soldier as he peered into her eyes, nearly certain he could forget his own name within those lustrous pearls that began to find their warmth now that Mipha had awoke.

"You-" Link began to explain, feeling a choking tightness within his throat as he attempted to fight down a breath.

Mipha watched his struggle, figuring she would ease his suffering.

"I died."

A pang of sorrow flushed through Link's mind at the plain explanation. Those moments of momentous, anguished loss- It all came back to him at that moment, surrendering only to the fact that Mipha was now alive, close enough for him to ensure that she might be within his embrace.

"W-" Link stammered, "W- What..?"

Mipha's lips curled into a sort of teasing smile, "Thought you'd pull a fast one on me, did you..?"

"N- I mean-" Link continued his incomplete verbiage, stopping only as Mipha began to stir beneath the blankets, working her arm free from the netherous space under the thick covers.

"It's okay," she assured, reaching out where Link could take her hand into his, her scaled lips curling weakly, "You didn't think I'd go without a fight, did you?"

Link broke into a sudden, sharp laugh before bringing her hand to his cheek, pressing it in between that spot and his hand.

"You died and _you're_ the one comforting me," Link noted bitterly, though still with some good humor.

Mipha shut her eyes, shaking her head softly, "You've been the one comforting me this whole time."

"I mean," Link began, "I wasn't going to let _those_ wild people out there shovel food down your gullet."

Shaking her head, Mipha clarified, "You've been that comfort ever since-"

Her smile began to fade as recollection ran through her mind, "I was lying on you. Back on Death Mountain. Looking into your eyes, unable to bear the thought of averting my eyes to catch the scrapes and bruises upon your face."

Link felt her hand tighten its grasp along his.

"Ever since that cave in- My body felt as though it was being torn apart. As though it were melting. I could feel my stomach dropping down my body- My brain had slowed to a churn. Laying atop of you, I- My body began to shake as my mind collapsed within itself. I could feel my last breaths escaping me, leaving me for dead, but-"

Her voice had grown cold, but then, after a moment's respite, it warmed once again.

"I felt your arms around me," she explained, tears rolling down the side of her face like starlit trails echoing the lanternlight, "My mind left me. My body. Everything about this world that makes me a part of it- It all abandoned me."

Her fingers constricted.

"You didn't."

Link took in a tight swallow as he lowered his head, wiping his own tears away onto the bed sheets before returning his whetted eyes back toward his beloved, "I just- I couldn't do anything else."

"But, when my life all but left me," Mipha went on in solemn explanation, "That warmth- That presence- Like a flame in an infinite darkness, it accompanied me. I recognized that I had died, and yet- That flame tied me to it."

Her eyes shook.

"Tied me to you."

Link fought down another rough breath as he began to tremble once again, his hand's rapid movements hushed only by Mipha's still grasp.

"Whenever I was brought back- It was that flame," Mipha smiled behind that shroud of teardrops along her face, "That flame was fanned by some- some force. I watched it sit there, battling, wanting to rage into some wildfire of life. Only then did I realize- That flame- That warmth- It was always you."

Link slid her hand across his face until it met his lips, allowing him to kiss her before dropping his head, taking in all he had heard with serious realization.

His breath wavered as he replied, "It was always _you_."

Link's thumb spread across the back of Mipha's hand in tender repletion as he went on, "-always you, whom I love."

He could feel her smile crossing the space between them in ineffable understanding. Link's eyes sparkled as they returned to Mipha's view, the two of them sharing a moment of silence, simply reminded themselves in breathless repetition, every second that crawled by, how much they loved this other part of themselves.

Suddenly swallowing a breath, Link broke from her spell, looking around the room as he prepared to stand up, "Do, uh- Do you need anything? I mean- You've been out for some time, I-"

Mipha's body began to stir once again as feeling resumes, her face twisting in curiosity as she felt her nerves spring back to life, "I just-"

She slowly pushed herself back so that she could sit up against the headboard, leaving Link to hurry to her side to assist her. He reached along her sides, feeling that tender spread of skin that covered her gills, before gently pulling her up, leaving her upright as he slid his hands away from her.

"I was kind of aware of my surroundings," Mipha noted blankly, "Enough so, I guess, that I'm quite bored with laying down."

Link grinned, "I mean, some people would kill to lead that life for a week's time."

Mipha shook her head, "I'd have gladly traded places with them."

A teasing smirk crossed Link's face as he returned to his feet, looking back toward the chest of drawers, "I was, uh- I brought you some soup, just in case, but- You looked so peaceful, so I stuck around, cutting up a piece of wood, but-"

His reply had been weak, leaving Mipha to ascertain plainly, "Just creeping around, huh?"

"I mean- I believe the term 'caregiving' would be a tad more appropriate, given the circumstances," Link explained with meandering eyes.

Mipha grinned, deciding to leave the line of questioning incomplete as she instead replied, "Yes, I would like some soup."

"Good," Link shot back, more in response to the previous line having gone unfinished, before explaining, "Daruk and Urbosa kind of cleaned out the stable, so- I kind of had to forage and make this in secret."

With a smirk, Mipha retorted, "They were that desperate, huh?"

"Like a pair of ravenous wolves, yes," Link nodded, carefully bringing the half-full bowl of watery soup across the room, "It's mostly broth, but- There's some Hylian spices in there, just to give it flavor. I figured, were you to wake, you'd probably prefer softer foods."

He eyed the bowl from above, "Or, you know, no food at all."

Mipha smiled serenely, "I'm sure it's wonderful."

"Hopefully," Link prayed aloud, sitting at the edge of the bed before bringing his leg up as he twisted toward his lover, "It's a bit cold, but I guess it won't much affect the taste."

He carefully stirred the spoon within the mixture of watery broth and spice. Mipha watched him with patient eyes, taking the moment to scan the room, finding the bed across from her devoid of its inhabitant.

Link's eyes rose to find her gaze, smiling as he returned to the bowl, "Zelda? Don't worry; you beat her in the sleeping category."

Nodding absently, Mipha noted, "I felt her there as I slept. as well as her absence once she awoke."

Her eyes turned to Link as he scooped up a spoonful of the liquid, speaking up quietly, "It was her, wasn't it?"

"That-" Link paused, the spoon hovering overtop the soup.

Mipha finished graciously, "She brought life back to me."

Dropping his head once again, Link sighed deeply, "Y- Yes, she did."

"So she has those powers after all," Mipha muttered with a soft smile, "I knew it…"

Link nodded before leaning over to carefully send the soup toward her, "But, uh- We aren't exactly telling her that. She was unconscious at the time, and-"

As she took the soup into her mouth, Mipha's brow narrowed in surprise, leaving Link to a sigh, "Urbosa's demand, not mine."

Her eyes lowering, Mipha swallowed the broth before grinning lightly, "So that's what she was getting at."

Her lips crawled wider in amusement, "She came in here while I slept to relay it to me. I don't know if it was just to relieve herself of the pressure, or if she thought I might actually hear her, but- It was kind of cute seeing her all secretive."

Link's eyes widened sarcastically as he dipped the spoon into the soup once again, "Well, when you tell her that, let me know beforehand so I can see her look of grotesque fury."

He watched the spoon attentively as he drifted back toward her mouth, holding his opposite hand beneath the wetted spoon, "She might hide in a hole if she heard you calling her that."

Mipha loosened a quiet giggle in reply before accepting the next bite, slurping daintily as she attempted to take all that she could from the spoon, smiling simply as Link pulled his hand away.

"It's good, " she noted with quiet pride.

"Yeah?" Link replied, "It's a pretty basic thing, but- You've haven't had much Hylian food, have you?"

She shook her head, "Not outside of what you've made during this trip."

"Even then, I'm mostly improvising," Link admitted, stirring up the bowl once again to better mix in the spices with the broth, "You really haven't had much of anything that can be consider Hylian _cuisine_, or whatever you'd call it."

Mipha smiled sweetly, "Perhaps when this expedition has finished…"

Darting up to meet her eyes, Link turned toward her with a plain expression, "Oh, that's not even in doubt."

He smiled as he scooped up another helping, "I'll make you whatever you want. a million times."

"And if you're still not satisfied," Link noted easily, "A million and one."

Mipha smiled beneath shimmering eyes as she took another bite, watching Link as he cautiously prepared her next portion, leaving the air between silent as the two of them simply enjoy one another. Link cracked a serene smile, thinking how had so missed such interactions with Mipha, even within this single week that, for all I gents and purposed, they were separated by more than distance.

He took another spoonful, but Mipha's shaking voice caused him pause as she spoke up.

"Perhaps it _is_ a bit cold."

Link peered down toward the soup for a moment before returning to Mipha with a shrug, "Yeah. I'll got warm it over the fire and-"

A sudden sensation of snatched skin caught his attention as Mipha quickly reached out to grab his arm, keeping him seated, while also sending the bowl near-teetering out of the soldier's hand. Link turned to her to ascertain what had happened, only to find her eyes twinkling like the cosmos, its infinite vastness indicative of just how entrancing those eyes had become to him.

He peered into her face, uncertain how to progress now that Mipha's firm grasp had halted him. Yet the atmosphere was so thick that he felt uncomfortable speaking.

"You could-" Mipha whispered, eyes flailing toward the empty space of the room.

She worked up the courage, thinking only fleetingly how she had survived death, only to encounter confrontation with her feelings regarding the man she had come to love.

"You could warm it-" she spoke in halting breaths.

Link's brow curled in confusion, forcing his mind to race until finally understanding what she might have been getting at, sending a shade of crimson to encapsulate his face.

"I, uh-" Link stammered unsurely, "You share this room with Zelda, so- I don't think we should-"

Mipha frowned, goading him with a tease, "Perhaps this is that millionth -and-first time…"

Sighing, Link caught a glimpse of the door before returning to the bowl in his hands, grinning, "Not satisfied, huh?"

"After feeling how warm you are and being forced to live with the feeling of being deprived of such a thing? How could I ever be?" Mipha uttered quietly, almost with a longing in her voice.

Link turned his eyes toward her, still grinning, "I suppose it _is_ my duty to do what I m

He carefully pulled the spoonful of soup up toward his mouth, slurping what he could all while his eyes remained upon Mipha, the flickering of orange flames painting a blush upon her face that matched the racing of her heart.

Sliding the bowl onto the nearby end table, Link leaned in close, reaching a hand around her head to lay gently between her head and dorsal fin, sending his skin into a minor shock at the sensation of her chilly enclosure juxtaposed to his steaming face. Still, he persevered.

He reached closer with intoxicating lethargy, attempting to heighten the tension, while simultaneously raising the temperature of the soup drowning his tongue, but such antics left Mipha wanting. She raised her head with a sudden burst of speed, closing the gap between them as she took a ravenous kiss from him, her hands quickly grasping either side of his head as she tugged him closer, desperate to keep him from, once again, vanishing into the world opposite her own.

Taken aback, Link was nonetheless inviting of the sudden show of lust from this being of such beauty. He accepted her kiss, leaving their lips awash with soup as he only half-attempted to carefully withdraw the warming broth, his mind far more focused upon those saintly lips that accompanied his own. He only faintly battled Mipha's tongue as it slithered along his lips, attempting to accept every bit of soup, now tinged with the flavor of her lover's mouth, a taste Mipha had now long considered to be a true delicacy worthy of Hylian cuisine.

Link was left breathless as Mipha's gills allowed her to ravage his mouth to her heart's content. So entranced was he by her very lips, by the forward motion of this woman so often reserved, all for his own benefit, that he had forgotten the use of his nose, leaving his lungs on the verge of collapse as he accepted Mipha's lips, her tongue, forcing him, finally, to pull away with an amorous *schlip* breaking the air as Mipha's tasting lips lost his own pair.

"That's what I felt," she whispered in loving chorus with the deep, heated breaths of Link.

Before he could bear to resist her body in favor of his own snaps of air, Link succumbed without a shadowy doubt as Mipha pulled him back into her lips, taking another supple, tender grasp between her own pair, taking was she was freely given before returning Link to his breathless gasps, the crown of her head pressed so delicately against his forehead all while their eyes continued their motionless dance.

"That was-" Link managed plainly, still heartily gathering his breath, "-unexpected."

Mipha smiled in sneaky intonation, "You said I should eat soft foods."

"I-" Link began to fire back, only to wrangle in his reply, blushing as he caught on to her insinuation, "That's a low blow."

She snuck in another kiss, thing one far more weak, allowing him his chance to catch up while also signaling her next teasing request.

"I'm cold."

Link's eyes remained stoic in their lost voyage within her gaze, reaching over for a kiss of his own, "You're not soup. You're supposed to be cold."

"I'm your partner," Mipha noted quietly, turning her head down toward her chest as if in defensive posture, "I'm- meant to be warm. now. By you."

Watching her listlessly enough, Link smiled at her honestly. He reached his hand up, cupping her chin before gently directing her gaze back toward him.

"I was never scared, you know," Link recounted in a whisper, "Such a trait is rather unbecoming of a Knight, after all. Everything that a person is naturally frighten of, early on in life, I spent enough time and blood attempting to ween myself of the feeling of being frightened."

His stare wavered, "-and then I fell in love. and, suddenly, I was terrified of so much. How you might think of me were you to catch me in a bad habit. How your affections might wane- How might you grow disgusted by my appearance as I age. So many tiny things."

"And then-" he paused, his breath shaking, nearly ringing as it quaked, "-then I watched you die. and my entire existence- I grew terrified of a life without you. My heart tore in two and-"

His eyes fell, "Were you not to wake… It was a wound no magic could ever hope to heal…"

Mipha's eyes had curled in anguish, her own heart falling at her powerful lover's sudden weakness breaking through his usual zeal. For however alluring she found his body, it was but a shell for such still waters that ran so incredibly deep- the kind of watery depths Mipha had always thought of as home. It was a trait that had so endeared her to this man.

She pulled him close, resting her lips upon his once again before releasing him, staring into his eyes.

"I promised you," she started, slowly, "I wouldn't allow any harm to befall you."

Her hand reached down from his cheek to press against his chest. Her wiry fingers stroked his wide presence through his shirt, sending a shiver down her spine; not only due to the coarse fabric, but of the sheer breadth of the man she so desperately wished to be concealed within.

"When I promised you that-" she noted quietly, "I had no inclination that it would ever extend beyond the physical. But, now-"

Her fingers curled inward at the center ridge of his chest, her lips closing in onto his own, Link feeling her chilly breath breaking against his skin.

"Now, I love you. and it's my duty to protect you from harm," she declared, "Your body. and your soul."

Link gave a meager smile at the thought, never having thought he might ever encounter another being who would ever consider him for such things. But that wasn't a mere being, he knew. Mipha was something far more, especially after all that he'd seen.

She was angelic in so many senses of the word.

For every minute moment of time spent lost within her eyes, Link fell into her lips, losing himself all over again as her hand slid across his chest, feeling his powerful tendons that so carefully concealed his heart- that magnificent engine of warmth that had kept her bound, not only to this world, but to the most precious part of it.

Her lips pulled away, only long enough for her to mutter with that air of loss that accompanies such wistful moments, "I want to feel like you do."

Link returned to her lips, finding her wanting as she dove in once more, leaving his reply silent. His hands found her shoulders, remaining there for only a brief moment before Link slid them down her body, forcing away the encroaching blankets with his wrists as he found the briskly tender skin of her stomach.

She shook at the sensation, causing a particularly devilish smirk to accompany Link's kisses, before she felt where Link had been trailing. As delicately as his hands would move, they separated toward her sides, finding the frail lines of scaleless skin that made up her gills. Mipha suddenly awoke into tremors between his hands, though Link held onto her tight enough, keeping her gill slits shut, leaving her with but her mouth to breath.

Their heads rose and fell with every kiss, their tongues and mouths entranced within a dance that was theirs, and theirs alone. Their eyes shut, all they had attached to the world was that space which was currently surrounded by their lover, keeping the two of them in heavenly reverie.

Link felt her gills tremble as she suddenly leapt for a breath, only for Link to prevent her from doing so. Her kisses continued, ravenous as they were, until she began to surrender such lustful advances, a point that Link rapidly took note of. Just as she began considering breaking away, Link leaned his body forward, sending Mipha's eyes wide as she became entrapped between Link and the headboard, preventing her from yanking herself away for a breath. Her eyes began to water as her lungs began to constrict, the very breath of life being consumed by Link's hungry lips.

"Mmm!" she whined under his unending worship.

Her fingers constricted. Her claws dug into Link's chest just as she decided to give herself up for dead if it meant sating this man's loving appetite, but at that moment, Link retreated, his hands tenderly pulled away from her sides, leaving Mipha lying there devoid of breath, cloudy eyes peering back up toward him.

"G- Goddess…" she groaned with a tinge of lascivious zeal.

Link smirked at his, apparently, appreciated work. All he could do was watch her in that state, taking in the imagery set before him; such a beauteous being that wanted him as much as he hoped to have her. Her chest rose and fell in succession, the orange glow of the lantern's flame bouncing along her crimson scales, leaving an entrancing hue of seduction that lined her chest.

He gently closed in on her lips, only this time, his mark was lower. Link placed his lips along her cheek, kissing those rough scales there as Mipha's eyes narrowed in confusion.

"W- What're-"

He interrupted with a solemn, "Cleaning you. You've got soup all over you."

"O- Oh."

Link smirked, "I suppose supper wasn't ever on your mind."

Were she able to, Mipha was sure a blush would have been in order, but even if it were possible, she might have been too breathless to do so. Her skin and scales crawled as Link contorted his neck to allow his lips to trail along her neck, to a particularly stimulating area along her shoulder, where his tongue ran between her scales to catch each speck of soup to be found, causing a shiver to explode along Mipha's body.

"G- Gah!" she whimpered in listless delight.

Link could only grin at his work, feeling a particular sense of pride knowing what he could do to her.

The thrill of adoration lost behind her breathless reverie, Mipha could only reciprocate with her hands, wrapping them around Link's head as he diligently tasted her scales in search of cleanliness; her fingers brushed along his fuzzy mass of hair, tickling herself in the process, all while admiring, so much, how soft he was there.

Before she could comprehend the progression of his movements, Link had found himself between those delicate protrusions at her chest, kissing into that valley that endlessly found itself within proximity of her heart. They weren't breasts, but as Link's eyes opened weakly, he found himself buried there, surrounded my Mipha's skin, her scales; caught in that place where her wintery temperature was so apparent. He spun her head beneath her hands, taking a tender kiss against that nearest mound, leaving Mipha to shiver.

"Gah…" she quietly whispered in verbal shock.

Link's eyes turned up her body, "You okay?"

"Yes, I-" she began, pausing as she lowered her head, finding Link's face finely framed between her chest and hands.

She smiled at the sight, "I'm fine. Just a bit tender, is all."

Link nodded within her grasp, within the soft confines of her chest, before pressing into her once again with his lips, leaving a trail of tremors that followed up along Mipha's spine, causing her to shiver.

"I used to-" she paused as she constricted for a moment, "-be so afraid of the idea of your heat upon me. I knew we were different, the Zora; but the thought of warm-blooded things out in the world. Even you, I- When we first kissed, I was so terrified that you might burn my lips."

Link ceased his adoration, turning his head up toward her as their eyes met, forcing Mipha's heart to skip a beat.

"There are moments where you're so fiercely- immensely burning against my skin. inside my body. But I know, now, that, soon enough- we'll reach this magnificent equilibrium, as if our bodies are dancing in time with one another's, subconsciously, not even requiring our thoughts to match."

Link turned his face back into her chest, taking another kiss from her scales.

"Let's stay here. like this. Together," he uttered weakly, "I don't ever want to leave your skin."

He felt Mipha's fingers crawl loving along his head.

"As much as I hate to be the one to admit- I don't think that's possible."

Link retorted with tamed ferocity, "Then we'll try. Make them show up and pull us apart."

Mipha grinned at such a childish dream that she, herself, hoped could be attained.

"I went without you," Link suddenly whispered beneath a wavering breath, "And my world went dark."

A tug from Mipha's fingers.

She assured simply, "You won't ever have to go without me ever again."

His eyes emerged once again from her chest, locking upon her own once more, adding a world's worth of gravity to her words as her thumb ran along his cheek, battling back a teardrop.

"Never again," she confirmed.

Link's eyes shook with withheld emotion, causing Mipha to smile at the jump within her heart.

"I said I would heal your heart," she grinned, "and I intend to mend it as best I can. However long that may take."

She stroked Link's golden hair.

"They can tear us apart, if need be."

Link smiled almost with a boyish charm before determinately proclaiming to the empty room, "Let them come."

A kiss from Mipha atop his forehead.

A crookedly mischievous smile.

"I'll know I'll have done so as well," she smirked.


	58. The Garb of a Failed Princess

Link's body began to stir, signaling to Mipha his rousing state as her head slowly crept toward her shoulder, watching him with a pure smile while working her necklace back onto her neck, having traded her reflection in the stable room's vanity for the man with whom she shared far more than the bed with. Her necklace placed back around her, her hands gripped at her dorsal fin as it fell slung down along her shoulder and onto her chest, stroking it pleasantly as she thought of the still-contented man lying there.

In a sudden, unceremonious motion, Link's eyes worked their way open, leaving him in a dazed state for a singular moment as he worked around his bearings, his hand instinctively sliding across the bed sheets in an attempt to find his beloved, only to find himself wanting before noticing Mipha standing across from the bed, eying him in return.

He watched her only blankly for a moment before muttering with frayed voice, "Should you be standing..?"

Mipha grinned, "And let death know it weakened me any further than it already has? I don't think so."

Her wiry smile escaped his view as she turned back toward the mirror, leaving her dorsal fin to reach for the clothen shawl she wore wrapped around her body, giggling to herself as she worked it into her body.

Link's eyes shrunk in a mixture of suspicion and tire as he lay alone in bed on his side, rubbing a hand across his face as a yawn escaped him, "I suppose I shouldn't have expected any less from a warrior princess such as yourself."

"I prefer 'battle queen', but-" Mipha stifled a laugh as she turned toward Link in explanation, "Urbosa taught me that one."

Link shook his head in disbelief before begin to slide himself to the edge of the bed, "Not at all surprising."

He sighed in longing exasperation, not merely in wishing for more sleep, but just as much in desperate wanting to return to the arms of his beloved. With the sun's light streaking in through the cracks in the walls, however, it was a dream left to be recognized only later. Still, exhaustion lingered as Link sat at the foot of the bed, working the sleep from his eyes as he muttered humbly.

"I suppose, if you're up, today might find us-"

He caught Mipha's eyes upon him.

"..what?" he asked with worry in his voice, as though she'd spotted out some imperfection that she had found unpleasant.

Mipha strode toward him along the strands of sunlight peeking into the room, sparkling off her crimson scales as she grew closer, silently, until standing in front of Link's sitting position. Her lips pursed as she pressed a finger to her chin, grinning as she reached low to grip Link's sides, directing him to stand.

His brow curled with confusion, albeit with a light-hearted sort that lay tinged with something like excitement at Mipha having brought her hands to his bare torso, a shiver working down his spine as her eyes fell to his chest, signaling to him what had caught her eye. A sudden self-consciousness arose in Link's mind, nearly feeling Mipha's stare upon his long, jagged series of scrapes and lacerations he had accrued a week earlier that now covered so much of his torso in pale, off-colored skin.

Mipha's hands slid along to his stomach, massaging the taut skin that greeted her. Much as Link's tongue had done against her scales, her fingers trailed in between the small divots of skin that shone his muscular frame, sending a rather hungry grin across Mipha's face, the sight growing intensely alluring as Link attempted to decipher what her 'game' was.

He knew her well enough, after all. Such a forward advance- Were she truly wanting something done, she wouldn't offer it so easily; it would have to be won by Link in some fashion.

Link's mind, clouded as it was, only cleared upon the sight of Mipha's encroaching head as she leaned into him, kissing at his chest while the two stood there. A tingling sensation coursed through Link's body as her tongue took a gentle swath of skin from him, the Zora enjoying a sliver of salt from that strand of warm musculature.

At that moment, Link's head snapped to the side as a massive, rolling grumble of a snore broke the tension, his eyes blowing wide open at the sight of Zelda spinning around in her bed across the room, her hands fluttering with futility into the air, her own snore having awoken her. Link immediately returned to Mipha, who had already begun to slide away with a playful grin, leaving Link to glance at her with a droll expression.

"Funny," he muttered sarcastically, leaving Mipha to stick her tongue out at him before returning to the vanity.

Zelda's voice escaped her with reckless abandon as a furious yawn broke free while she pushed herself up, curling her legs inward as she sat there in bed, running fists across her eyes all while her hair appeared to have exploded into a matted mess in the night.

"Wha- Aaaah- What's funny?" she inquired on either end of another yawn.

Link sighed, shaking his head, "Well, nothing, now."

Through sleepy eyes, Zelda stared at him with confusion for a brief moment before dropping her head, "Mipha's up, too?"

The Zora smiled, "I am, yes. I actually feel rather spry, now that I'm thinking about it. A week's sleep must've done wonders."

"Maybe for _you_," Zelda grumbled unhappily, "It felt like any other morning when I woke up. Well, a morning when I've stayed up much too late the night before, anyway."

Mipha grinned as she tightened her shawl around her body, "Hopefully once this journey is over, when we're back in our normal beds, it'll be more pleasant for us all."

"I hope so," Zelda frowned, turning toward Link with wondering eyes, "Where's your shirt?"

While Mipha's eyes widened in realization, Link simply replied with a shrug, "I got some soup on it last night."

Considering his night with Mipha, it wasn't a total lie.

Mipha turned toward the two with a stammer, "I-! I mean-!"

Link watched her panic for a moment with a wry smirk of his own, considering this payback for her teasing ways a minute earlier, before interrupting her jolting speech, "It's nothing to be worried about. She's seen me like this before."

"One would say too many times," Zelda complained as she wormed her way toward the side of the bed.

Link chuckled, "Side effect of traveling together for such an extended length of time. That's how I discovered the fatal flaw in Hyrule's lineage, however."

Those words caught Mipha with a curious glance as Link explained with a laugh, "Zelda loves no man. Only books."

"Alright, _that's_ a lie," Zelda frowned, "I'll have you know, I've had rather spirited dialogue with many men whom I could foresee being suitable partners down the line."

Link nodded, "Uh huh. How many of them weren't characters in those traveling thespian troupes that come around every so often?"

Zelda stared at him with deepening eyes.

"…enough of them!"

Turning his eyes toward Mipha, Link smirked while the Zora extended a humorous giggle before replying, "Well, I suppose being as busy as you are, it would only be a hinderance."

"Precisely," Zelda explained simply, working her way to her feet where she began straightening out her lengthy pajama dress, "There are far too many books to read, things to learn, before tying myself down to anybody who'll steal away any amount of time from that."

Link joked lightly, "You sound like those old, geezer generals who've been bachelors for the entirety of their lives."

"Well, hopefully they understand the value of a good book," Zelda noted plainly with a nod.

Link chuckled, "No, I don't think that's it."

Despite his pressing on with the conversation, Zelda failed to follow along, simply stepping around her bed as she explained in tangential fashion, "In any case, the reason I asked was that-"

Link and Mipha watched curiously as Zelda pilfered through the footlocker at the end of her bed, rummaging for only a second as she returned upright, a shirt dangling from her hands. Link examined the light blue fabric, noting immediately the woven, ornate design of the Master Sword emblazoned amongst the collar. With a suddenness, his eyes jumped up toward Zelda, catching her face in a sort of melancholy- a look of defeat punctuated by her own futile plan to lead this expedition.

"I, uh-" she began with a disheartening voice as her head fell, "My powers failed you all, once again. I figure that, if I'm truly a failure, and I cannot even perform my duty when it comes to keeping you all safe-"

Hidden from view, her eyes began to waver, "I figured the least I could do was help you all hide the scars I've brought upon you. Maybe, in that sense- At least the outside world might think I've been worth something."

Link felt a tug at his heart. He wanted to tell her, right then, that her powers had, indeed, come to her- in ways he couldn't ever dare hope to repay her for. Yet, he couldn't. He remembered Urbosa's words, so hollow as they'd been in the Gerudo's own dismay at having to conceal such a thing from the woman who had long been a daughter to her.

He looked toward Mipha, who replied with an anguished look of her own, before muttering quietly, with nothing much to say, "So that's what you were working on all day."

"I bought the fabric from a wandering peddler," Zelda explained with a shrug, "Though, I did my best to make it look somewhat presentable. I made something for everyone- I even emblazoned each piece with each of your respective Beasts, or- Well, sword, in Link's instance."

The heartbroken princess returned to the footlocker once again before returning with a similarly colored shawl that perfectly matched the length of Mipha's, handing it out to the Zora while still raising the shirt in the air for Link.

"I understand if I'm not somebody you'd like to associate with, but-At least you both might be able to hide my failures."

Link finally gave a sigh before swiping the shirt from her hand, shaking his head, "Zelda, you- You're such a doof sometimes."

Biting her lip, the princess glared at him with a pithy stare, "I don't think you-"

"Of course we'll wear them," Link muttered simply, "You're the _Princess_ of the Kingdom of Hyrule. Short of finding yourself drunk in an alleyway somewhere, how little do you think your standing means?"

He managed a smirk, "Look, I know you feel bad, but-"

Reaching out, Link took a hearty grip of her shoulder, "Before we left for Death Mountain, you said you weren't sure whether you could do all this. We're all here to learn about the Divine Beasts, sure, but- We're also here to make sure that you _can_. Scars and all, we're still here."

Link lowered her head, mulling over his words, as Link sighed, pulling the thin shirt over his head, "You're a good person. and a future Queen that I would have no qualms serving under. I know you feel guilty and empathetic for those around you, but you need to know that we can take care of ourselves. That's why you recruited us."

"Well," Zelda spoke with a low humor as a hidden smirk grew on her face, "I chose the others. _You_ were _forced_ to come along."

Link dropped his arms with a sigh, "Yeah, well… I'm _still_ a Knight. Taking care of myself is what I do."

A muted chuckle escaped Zelda as she raised her head under Link's words, "Well, how does it look?"

Zelda watched with quiet critique as Mipha emptied the silence with a reply, "Looks nice!"

"Yeah, it does," Link nodded, examining himself before returning Zelda's stare, "So?"

Zelda offered a grim smile, "It should make do."

"Alright, then," Link nodded, turning to Mipha, "See? It even looks nice on her."

Mipha grinned as she adjusted her light blue shawl around her shoulder, "I was a bit worried it might look too busy against my scales, but- Yeah, it's pretty."

"Yeah," Zelda smiled weakly, "It is."

Link nodded with a reassuring tone as he stepped away, turning back toward his backpack, "Alright. Now, I know Mipha's probably hungry, and knowing the general stance of everybody in the group, I guess _I_ need to head out and start on breakfast. Especially if we're heading out today?"

His question came with a quick look toward Mipha, who replied with a nod before she assured Zelda, "If you'd like, I won't be anything of a hinderance."

Link stood with a handful of containers of spices nestled between his fingers before, "I'll be outside if you two need to get ready."

"Alright," Mipha smiled, watching him as he strode toward the door, "We'll be right out."

The two of them shared a glance as Link reached for the door's handle, leading him from view as he stepped into the hallway, closing the wicker door behind him. Mipha's smile remained, albeit with more of an understanding tinge to it as she turned toward Zelda, who had shuffled her way back toward her bed, reaching into her own satchel for proper clothing.

"Thanks," Mipha began suddenly, leaving Zelda to peer up toward her with a start.

The Zora's smile softened as she ran a hand along the woven shawl, "For thinking of me."

Zelda replied with a weak grin of her own as she began to remove her pajamas, "Despite what he says, I- still feel bad. for putting you all through this just for my silly ideas."

"I don't think it's silly," Mipha confided easily, "You know, I once thought it was enough to fight for Hyrule's future, simply because that included my home. After this journey, I-"

She crossed her arms, dropping her head to think, as well as shielding Zelda's state of undress from her eyes, "My home isn't nearly as concrete as I might have once thought, but- Having people you can trust…"

Mipha emptied her heart as she concluded, "There's nothing more certain than knowing you all will be there for me. Anything could happen to my home, but trust is just one of those things that will always be."

"Well," Zelda paused as she pulled her shirt over her head, "I don't-"

She surrendered her train of thought, simply returning with a smile, "Thank you. Truly."

Her eyes wandered off, nervously, "I never had many friends, or siblings, so trust is kind of foreign to me. Believe me, Link has _stories_ about that."

A giggle left Mipha as Zelda pressed on, "I never had any siblings, either, so- I'm just trying really hard to be something of a friend to you all, looking out for you and everything. Even if Link says it isn't necessary, I can't help but thing, were I to have a brother, or sister, I'd feel just as compelled to protect them, regardless."

Mipha watched with a coy smirk as Zelda attempted to wrangle her messy hair, trying to run a brush down her mane, only to be stopped by the limitations of her arm cricked over her shoulder, leaving the end portion of her hair as frizzed into a mess. The Zora gently sauntered over, carefully stopping Zelda's hand, which caused the Hylian to jump in surprise before Mipha took the brush, leaving Zelda understanding of her intentions.

"For what it's worth, as a sister, myself," Mipha grinned, stroking the length of Zelda's hair with the horsehair brush, "I think you've done more than a wonderful job keeping us all in line."

Zelda sighed, unable to conceal a smarmy sort of expression to work its way onto her face with proud eyes, "Well, thank you. That means a lot, coming from you."

Her hands running down Zelda's hair in a cautious movement, carefully to keep from yanking out some unseen tangle, Mipha spoke with a bright timbre to her voice, "In some senses, given what all we've been through, I could even consider you to be something of a sister of mine."

"A sister…" Zelda muttered longingly, lowering her head as she smiled warmly, "So, I mean- Sisters can gossip, right?"

Mipha tilted her head to the side, "Hmm. I suppose so, yes. What's said to be in confidence shouldn't dare leave my lips. Why? What did you have in mind?"

"Oh, I don't know," Zelda spoke up with a wayward tone, as if such a preamble were simply proper, "Like, maybe, Link?"

"Link?" Mipha wondered quizzically.

"I mean, even I've noticed some of his quirks and bad habits," Zelda noted as if reciting from a textbook, "I came to bed and saw you two all huddled up and all- Certainly if you're _that_ close, you've noticed?"

Mipha's eyes fell slanted, catching a distance corner of the room all while her hand began to slow, demonstrating her slowing thought, believing she might have stumbled into unknown territory. One she wasn't certain whether or not to further explore.


	59. Truly Champions

Link appreciated the gentle breeze that met him as he stepped out from the stable, his eyes stuck onto his chest as he pressed the vials of spices against himself in an attempt to hold them steady. His eyes jumped up to catch where he was going only sparingly, carefully making his way through the tracks of dirt that surrounded the stable on his way toward the communal campfire. Coming closer, he caught sight of a Goron sitting beside Daruk while Urbosa poked at the tiny flames, grinning to herself as she listened to the two men of stone chortling amongst themselves.

"-said back to him, 'Hey, buster! You had better step off!' and I'll tell you, Brother, that korok never returned to haunt my stack of rock snacks ever again!"

Daruk gave a furious laugh, slapping his leg in a jovial expression while he replied with a decadent, "Bwah ha ha! Those ghostly beings cannot hope to withstand the booming roars of a Goron!"

As if in demonstration, Daruk let loose a massive, "GWAAAR!"

His compatriot, lost as he was in recounting, gave a booming shout as well, "WAAARH!"

"GWAAAR!"

"WAAAARH!"

Urbosa raised her voice in hasty delivery, "You know, there are people _still_ asleep!"

Allowing a nervous chuckle, Daruk scratched his beard as he gave a dawdling reply, "S- Sorry about that."

A Hylian, who had been tending the fire, spoke to Urbosa with a sigh, "You needn't worry. Given our proximity to Eldin, we are often inundated with…rather bestial roars such as those. Our regular guests know to sleep with cotton in their ears…"

Daruk eyed the Hylian fretfully, "My apologies, uh, Birro. It wasn't my intention to-"

"No, no; this stable was placed here specifically for the benefit of your people," the manager spoke quietly, grumbling lowly to himself while stoking the flames, "Even if it was the work of a overly-domineering mother-in-law…"

Daruk gave a short sigh of relief before returning his attention to his new Goron friend, "Anyway, Banagron; tell me more about-"

Link's eyes narrow curiously upon noticing the massive powder blue cloth that Daruk had tied around his neck which fluttered along atop his shoulders, keeping from sight those large, sickly streaks of charred rock that made up his mantle. He then found a similarly constructed piece of cloth along Urbosa's arm, acting as sort of a sleeve, both of them with some ornate design that seemed to match Link's own shirt.

He stepped toward the fire, crouching low while the manager peered up toward him with a begrudging tone, "Fire's acting up, not wanting to stay lit. Some of the logs were waterlogged or something."

Grumbling, the manager murmured to himself once again, "About as damp as Sase' personality, I'd say…"

Link gleaned the man's pithy expression carefully before replying, "I was about to make up some breakfast for us, so I can keep an eye out on the fire if you've got other things to tend to."

"Gah… There's _always_ things to do here," Birro complained helplessly, "Just a long string of regrets because of that woman."

He woefully shook his head as he rose to his feet, skulking away with shoulders drawn forward, leaving Link to the flames as he silently prepared breakfast beneath the Gorons' chatter.

"We just completed an expedition, ourselves, up to the top of the mountain," Daruk grinned proudly, sending the Goron opposite from him into a look of sheer aghast.

"_We_?!" Banagron gasped in astonishment.

Daruk crossed his arms proudly, "Yes! Myself, Urbosa here, that Hylian there, Link- We even brought a Zora to the top and back!"

Banagron's eyes flew even wider, aghast at such a claim, demonstrated by a hand stamped upon his mouth, "By the goddess!"

Urbosa began to chuckle at Daruk's line of conversion constantly eliciting such surprise, leaning forward as she smirked widely in mischief, "Tell him about the dragon, already."

"DRAGON?!" Banagron exuded in unhinged excitement, whipping his eyes back and forth between Urbosa and Daruk as he attempted to contain himself, even as Daruk nervously stroked his neck.

"That- _That_ is a lie," Daruk assured unevenly, his smile full of shame before he could continue, "But we truly did bring a Zora along! I can even go and-"

"Goddess, no!" Banagron made in appeal, twisting his hands in front of him, "I do not wish to disturb them! That said, I'm supremely interested in how that was accomplished."

He stroked his beard, thinking aloud, "If Boldon caught wind of such a thing, he would lose his sediments!"

Daruk laughed, "I suppose he would! We actually- Well, uh-"

He sputtered in place, his eyes scanning the entire area as if only now realizing the suit Robbie had constructed hadn't actually made the trip back.

"Uh, Link?" he uttered under his breath, hoping to conceal such uncertainty from his confidently booming voice, "Where's that suit..?"

Thinking for a moment, Link shrugged in between lowering strips of bacon onto the now-steaming pan, "I would guess it's still on Vah Rudania."

"Ah!" Daruk cried with excitement while he stamped a fist into his open palm, "Banagron! You're returning to the city, are you not? Why not get a band together and head up to The Beast and retrieve it?! Rogaro has always wanted to craft armor for the other peoples of Hyrule- and didn't he have that crazy idea for an armor shop?"

Banagron hummed in thought, "'Ripped and Shredded'? You're right!"

Suddenly with furrowed brow, Daruk nervously took himself back, "That, uh- That is to say, if Robbie doesn't need it back."

He eyed Link warily before spinning further to find Urbosa, who merely shrugged in reply, "That man doesn't strike me as the sentimental type. Even if he were, that suit might as well go to good use; if the Gorons can study and hope to perfect it, I doubt Robbie would mind. That _was_ a goal of his, correct?"

"Daruk! You've left me gob smacked, I'll tell you!" Banagron roared with excitement as he slammed an open hand onto Daruk's shoulder, "As soon as I return, I'll-! Brother- Your shoulder-"

A harrowed expression lay upon the guest's face as he ran his fingers along Daruk's rocky skin, concealed as it was beneath Zelda's handiwork. While out of sight, Banagron could feel the warped portion of stone that seemed unending from his current position.

"Your shoulder is-"

Daruk groaned, timidly sliding the Goron's hand away from him before a ginger grasp clutched at the powder blue fabric that ran across his shoulders. He carefully slid it along, revealing the sickly charred skin there, must to Banagron's terror.

"Goddess!" he spoke in a hushed voice, recoiling, "Brother! What I'll fate has befallen you?!"

Daruk's lips trembled in uncertain shame. He managed a glance toward his two partners, a pride sweltering within him as he breathed a heated breath.

"My friends were in danger," he asserted simply, "To save them, I took what magma I could find, and I allowed it to travel atop my own body."

"B- But-!" Banagron stammered in shock, "Such a thing-! How is it that you sit here, now, speaking to me as though you have not cheated certain death?!"

Daruk lowered his eyes, his brow curling in melancholy while he muttered quietly, "My friends needed me. I simply answered the call."

"Brother…" Banagron uttered in near reverence before pulling away his hand, rising to his feet with an unsteady movement characteristic of a Goron, "I must make haste! The mountain must know of your ordeal!"

Daruk's eyes widened in surprise, "Well, I-"

"Not a problem, Brother!" Banagron reassured gently, taking Daruk's hand into a vicious shake, "I haven't the worth to even be within your presence! You-"

The guest took a shaking breath, "You truly are a Champion of the Gorons."

Daruk's brow rose in surprise by the man's words, all while Banagron hastily gathered his things, "I can assure you, we'll do as you suggested; I'll have that contraption back in the city as soon as possible!"

The Goron took off after sharing a few words with the others, as well as Birro, all while the innkeeper furiously swept at some unkempt collection of dirt from the stable's interior, leaving Daruk to turn back toward his own Company, leaning back against his seat while proudly throwing his hands into the air, tucking them behind his head as he settled in.

"I wish I could say it was difficult receiving praise," he noted smugly, causing Urbosa to unleash a pithy laugh.

Her eyes glanced toward Link, "And _here_ we go."

Daruk laughed, shaking his head, "I'm only joking! Being humble is as much a part of being truly Goron as bringing magnificence to the name itself."

"Speaking of humble," Urbosa spoke up wryly, keeping a scrutinizing stare atop Link, "_Somebody's_ awfully quiet this morning."

Link groaned, forcing Urbosa's grin to spin into a far more mischievous sort of smirk.

"Daruk said you never made it to _your_ bed last night," she noted evilly.

Daruk chuckled, shooting the Hylian a teasing glance himself, "I figured you might have had other…matters to attend to."

"Goddess, spare me," Link sighed as his head dropped in exasperation, "I'm even making your breakfast; I don't think you two need to be-"

Urbosa snapped in sinister interruption, "You didn't drown, did you?"

"Hey hoh!" Daruk blurted out amidst a boisterous laugh, "No buildup- she just goes for the throat!"

Link glared at the Gerudo, a droll tone lining his voice, "I hope your bacon doesn't end up burnt."

With a haughty movement, Urbosa shook her shoulders while sitting up in her seat as though she were prim and proper, raising her head high, "Do your worst, boy."

She smirked devilishly, "I'm not the one aiming to taste Zora for breakfast."

Pinned as he was between his cooking and an inability for rebuttal, Link simply stared at the sizzling pan with sunken eyes while a blush emerged there upon his face, leaving Urbosa to laugh rather childishly, nearly with something of a giggle, joining in with Daruk's humored chortles in chorus with her own.

Link tightened his lips as he desperately attempted to hide his embarrassment, though after a hearty spell, Urbosa began to calm down, shaking her head, "We're only messing with you. At least I caught a glimpse of how truly cute you can be.

"And all _I'm_ catching," Link scowled in reply, "Is just how much like a crotchety old grandma you can be."

Shrugging, Urbosa feigned indifference as she assured simply, "As if I haven't been called worse."

Link shot her a stare, "Then maybe I'll-"

"Hold on," Daruk muttered, his curled brow signaling his confusion, "Why would you be tasting Mipha? Isn't that rather barbaric?"

Immediately strewn about once again by shame, Link clamped up beside the campfire while Urbosa let out another scoffing laugh, "Pfft-! I suppose it _would_ be something unknown to a man of rock."

"Say no more," Daruk assured, "For one so worldly as I, I do believe I understand, now that you mention it that way."

He sent a ginger elbow into Urbosa's arm, winking while Link watched, the Hylian rolling his eyes before returning his attention to his skillet.

"If you say so," Urbosa shrugged, "I'm more interested in whether or not we'll be embarking today. Revali has already gone off for his daily chore, so I wonder if we might as well remain here another day while Mipha reacquaints herself with the world of the walking."

Daruk nodded thoughtfully, "I wonder what Zelda might decide. I wouldn't mind hitting the road again, myself! Making trails across this-!"

"You're not even going to ask him what he meant?" Link suddenly interrupted, still with a revolted look as he stared at Urbosa, "You'd better get on the same page before he, himself, hunts down and licks Mipha's arm or something to get a taste."

Urbosa's eyes tensed with subdued distress, "Boy… You seriously did _not_ stop at licking her arm, did you?"

Flushed once again upon his face, even more so, now, that he had dove into that verbal lash with reckless abandon, Link hushed himself as he stared furiously into the hot pan, simply choosing to ignore the others now. Urbosa chuckled at his continued embarrassment, grinning while turning her attention away, figuring he had endured quite enough, only to find Zelda and Mipha emerging from within the stable.

"Well, well; look who decided to wake up," the Gerudo smiled, "The two princesses, amongst us once again."

Zelda frowned, "What's with the ceremony..?"

"Nothing," Urbosa confirmed as she stood, making a swift stride toward the two women and immediately embracing them, "Nothing at all."

A quizzical expression plastered itself upon Zelda's face as she spun her head against Urbosa's body to find some semblance of a glance toward Mipha, grumbling, "I'm thinking it's _not_ nothing…"

Mipha giggled, enjoying the warmth she had been without for the better part of a week, "If you keep this us, Daruk's gonna want a-"

Without any introduction, Daruk had wormed his way into the group hug himself, stretching his massive arms around the women as he happily regaled, "The Champions are back, baby!"

His bounding leaps in place while still embracing the group sent the collection of bodies asunder, leaving Zelda and Mipha to clutch onto whatever they could to keep from toppling over amidst the giant bodies of Urbosa and Daruk.

"Tch."

Link looked up from his flaming pan to find the source of that very familiar scoff, finding Revali having returned with a bundle of firewood strapped against his chest between his arms, dropping the lot of them to the ground before wiping the tiny bits of bark from his mantle.

"What's their problem?" he wondered aloud in smarmy curiosity, only to himself, though Link still answered.

"Something that Daruk's inclusion turned quite amorphous," Link shrugged while poking at the skillet to keep the food from being scalded in place.

Revali sneered as he picked out the remaining bits of bark from his feathers before groaning as he sat down, shaking his head, "Whatever it might be, hopefully it means a swift exit from this place. My heart longs for the sweet scents of Tabantha."

Keeping to himself, Link simply managed the noisy collection of sizzling breakfast foods, his eyes suddenly jolting up toward the Rito for no other reason than having caught sight of something in his peripheral vision. Sure enough, Revali had strung across his chest the same powder blue fabric as the others, leaving Link curious as to how such a thing had been accomplished in the first place.

"What?" Revali spat out suddenly, "I can appreciate you admiring greatness, but staring is still wholly impolite, Hylian."

Link didn't reply, though he reached up to grab at his collar, tugging at his shirt, which sent Revali's attention down to his chest, following the fabric that wove around his torso from overtop his shoulder, frowning, "What of it?!"

Shrugging, Link replied lowly, "Nothing. Just didn't take you for the type to wear just anything given to you by anybody."

"Pah. Shows what you truly know, whelp," Revali scoffed, turning his attention elsewhere as Link returned to his cooking.

Listening only with slight interest to the conversation of the others, Link focused mostly on the meal, deciding not to bother ruining Urbosa's portion, while he began carefully pulling the bacon, eggs, and assorted bits of potatoes onto an awaiting place, not bothering to divvy up the meal into sixths, as that responsibility could be done by another more willing to answer the questions of not having received enough, mostly by Daruk. Almost meticulously, however, Link began pouring the assortments of spices into the waiting palm of his hand, taking only pinches at a time before carefully seasoning the feast-like portion, his attention set only on ensuring the food was-

"She's not _anybody_."

Link's brow raised as his eyes did what they could to peer up toward Revali while keeping his head low, feigning uninterest as Revali muttered those words. He wondered, silently, what Revali must have thought of that sacred act of resurrection for him to wear anything foreign given to him by the Princess of Hyrule, no less. Despite an insatiable need to discover more, however, Link remained silent while doling out the remaining bits of seasoning, lost more on his thoughts than the culinary task at hand.

"OH! I can smell it!" Daruk charged with a boisterous tone, leaving the women for the savory-smelling delights by the campfire, "Well done, Brother!"

Link shrugged, "It's no big deal, really. The cooking, anyway. I'm usually more concerned with making not-soup and whomever has to separate the portions."

"Hmm," Daruk nodded, knowing better than to suggest himself by this point, "How about Mipha? She's always perfect for the task, and what a better way to return to the forefront?!"

Mipha smiled, giggling fondly at Daruk's reverence for her meticulous sense of division, before slowly stepping toward the food, "I suppose I could try my best to keep the bowls equal, perhaps according to each of our sizes."

"HMM!" Daruk hummed loudly in anticipation, forcing a look of antipathy upon Link's face, "Brother, have you any idea the amount of food needed to maintain this Goron engine?"

Link tilted his head inquirously, "How many stomachs do you _actually_ have, again?"

Daruk turned away in bashful relegation as Urbosa spoke up, taking charge, "Alright, alright; enough of that. We're all hungry- Mipha, just get that divvied up, if you don't mind. Now-"

The Gerudo crossed her arms, taking a moment to pause as her eyes scanned the group before her, The Champions, as a smirk crossed her face before turning her attention back toward Zelda, "It's plain as day by now, but you all know that you've been given different garments, hand-made by Zelda, and-"

Nearly in a panic as such recognition, Zelda slammed a shoulder into Urbosa's side, crying out quietly up toward her surrogate mother, "_Urbosa_!"

Raising an open hand to calm Zelda down, Urbosa continued, "Well, there's another surprise that only _I_ am privy to…"

Despite her insistent plea for Urbosa to stop, Zelda suddenly turned curious as she pulled away, lips pursed in inquiry as she spoke up, "..what?"

Urbosa smirked knowingly as she reached out a hand, snapping a finger in Revali's direction, "Yoo hoo! Revali! Can you toss me that satchel, there?"

Frowning at such a impotent task, Revali nonetheless acquiesced, swinging a hand low to find the nearby bag, "I want some of your portion for this."

He tossed the bag toward her, only for Urbosa to scoff in reply, "Pfft, not a chance. Anyway- Now, Zelda, I know why you felt it necessary to create these, but-"

"Urbosa…" Zelda spoke up lowly, a shiver in her voice, "You don't have to-"

"I think I do," the Gerudo managed matter-of-factly, "Now, I think there are some misconceptions going around in that head of yours, princess, and now that we're _all_ here, it's time to put some of that to rest, alright?"

Before Zelda could retort, Urbosa reached into the bag, pulling out another article of clothing, this one the same powder blue as all the others, causing Zelda's brow to fall in confusion while also causing her pause.

"I borrowed some of what you had left once I realized what you were up to," Urbosa smiled, "I won't pretend I have much of an idea of what I was doing, but- Hopefully it'll work."

She dropped the satchel to allow her a chance to grasp the shoulders of the plain shirt, unadorned as all the others had been, perhaps due to Urbosa's inabilities within the realm of handiwork, though it still matched all the others, and by Urbosa's eye, seemed to fit.

"After what we've gone through in just this last month or so- You no longer must burden yourself as a Princess leading a band of people," Urbosa grinned, turning her attention toward the others, "We're not your subject to whom you're beholden to, nor expected to protect. We're a Company. a Company of Champions. But even more than that-"

The Gerudo returned to find Zelda's face sunken in anguished realization, smiling as she reached over to swipe a loving thumb across Zelda's cheek, "We're just about family, now. Aren't we?"

Her words had been intended for Zelda to answer, but in a sudden rush of ozone, Daruk's raucous breath seemed to shake the atmosphere surrounding the entire group as he roared, "WAH HA HA! Indeed we are!"

Zelda watched him with trembling eyes, ready to tear up as Daruk smiled softly, "For you, Zelda- For _any_ of you, really- I would make the journey up until this moment all over again."

Urbosa grinned maternally as Zelda dropped her shoulders, listlessly bringing her arms up as she shook her head, "Y- You can't- say that and not hug me…"

"D'aaw," Daruk smiled warmly, stepping up toward her before taking her into a gentle embrace, "When you gave me this, you went on about hiding my injuries, but- These rough marks will go away soon enough. What _won't_ remain is my ability to so proudly proclaim to the whole of Hyrule that it was all for you that I managed to withstand these scars."

Zelda shivered in an amalgamous mixture of happiness and anguish, managing to only mutter weakly, "D- Daruk…"

"Hey, I'm far more than a mouth to be fed," he chuckled brightly, pulling away from his embrace only to allow him a chance for his warm smile to be met by her watery eyes, "I'm not wearing this- I suppose it's a cape, really- I'm not wearing it to hide anything. I'm wearing it so that the whole of Hyrule can see that I had the most wonderfully lucky opportunity to travel alongside this gaggle of crazy people."

A broken chuckle found its way through Zelda's tears as she wiped away her face.

"Hmm," Urbosa mused, "I hadn't thought of it that way. I was simply thinking of forcing Zelda's inclusion, but it is sort of like a uniform in some way, huh?"

Daruk's mouth widened in amazement, "Oh! How regal-sounding!"

At his childish reply, Urbosa smirked, turning toward the others, "Well?"

Mipha smiled, nodding sweetly as she ignored her culinary task in exchange for a careful bow in Zelda's direction, "This journey has given me moments I never could have hoped to experience otherwise. None more special than those nights where we've been sitting along the fire, complaining or discussion or telling stories."

She gave a muted giggle, "I would be honored to count myself one amongst this Company."

Zelda's tears covered her smile as she found Link next, the soldier watching with a listless expression, as if he were having serious doubts about such a thing, though Zelda already knew it was merely a game.

Sure enough, Link shrugged, "What the hell. You've won me over once, already. I shouldn't hedge my bets for the second time."

Taking in a deep, sniffling breath through her nose, Zelda dropped her head, her mind awash with memories of their relationship. For such a tumultuous beginning that saw death as a probable escape from this soldier, Link had become something of a magnificent friend to her, his simple acceptance of this strange collection of people only magnifying how close of friends they had become.

"Hey now," Link muttered softly as he stepped toward her, embracing her as Daruk had done, "You don't know if this fabric will stain."

Zelda gave him a swift kick before releasing a series of choking laughs, "Shut up."

Patting her back, Link assured her solemnly, "You're going to do great things. Destiny always arrives. one way or another."

Burying her face against him, both to wipe away her tears as well as making an attempt at him eating his earlier joke, Zelda nodded against his shoulder, "Alright."

He pulled away, patting her shoulder heartily before stepping away, knowing the final member of the Company to be the most difficult of the troupe to win over. An expectant series of glances made their way toward Revali, who had remained seating, watching the entire emotional affair with ambivalent eyes. He didn't appear disgusted, but his expression was something of a mystery to the others.

His beak turned only momentarily, his eyes peered up from his slightly downturned attention as they examined Zelda from afar, as though he were sizing her up. Link thought of those words he had muttered a moment ago, thinking of their meaning, even while glancing over toward Urbosa to find a hardened stare upon Revali from her. Revali slowly made his way to his feet, stepping closer to the group with an almost sickeningly slow gait, his eyes staring over Zelda like a man possessed behind such intense thought.

"I will not hug you," he suddenly shot out, to the surprise of nobody, though his brow, curling narrow as if in realization, did bring confusion to the others as they watched him stop a few paces apart from Zelda.

"But-" he paused, allowing himself a final chance to escape this moment, only for him to continue, "-I will follow you."

Zelda's face nearly gushed as her body sunk for a moment, those words weakening her legs as she worked out behind her tears, "Revali, it's so difficult to _not_ hug you right now."

"I would _tremendously_ appreciate the restraint," he bit back, returning almost preemptively to his usual temperament.

Working an arm across her face, Zelda turned up to Urbosa, smiling, "I, uh- All this has left me pretty hungry, so-"

"Then we'd best get to eating," Urbosa agreed with a nod, "Wearing these scars so proudly- This truly is our first meal as Champions."

A clench fist pumping into the air, Daruk proclaimed, "Yes!"

Link reminded simply, "That's not an invitation to become an _eating_ champion."

"Bah! I know that!" Daruk charged in reply, before grinning expectantly, "That's for when we return to Hyrule Kingdom with a feast awaiting us! I can taste it now… Sautéed veggies, roasted boar ribs, rock sirloin- Hey, you think I could even get to taste how Zoras are?"

Mipha's eyes widened in shock as Link cleared his throat, "I don't, uh- No."

He shared a cautious glance with Mipha before a meandering shrug left the Zora with something resembling the wary relief of not being eaten. She quickly worked the portions out to give Daruk a quick avenue to eat before working out the other bowls of food, Revali's ambivalent attitude leaving him apart from the group and, by virtue, last in line. Link glanced toward him, still thinking of those words, until Mipha handed him his bowl.

"Thanks," he smiled.

Mipha nodded, sharing a bright grin of her own as Link stepped away to continue the line, though instead of stopping to eat, himself, he strode purposefully over toward Revali, catching the Rito's scornful stare as he did so.

Revali's eyes narrowed in scrutiny as Link approached, his arms curled across his chest as he sneered in disgust of the Hylian's approach, though his entire face suddenly flinched out from that woeful state as Link reached the bowl out toward him.

"Here," Link ordered.

Revali watched him, critiquing the entire gesture, before Link spoke up again, "Just take it, alright? You helped me, so- Here."

"Yes, _breakfast_ should leave us quite square," Revali scoffed.

Fighting the urge to retaliate, Link left his arm extended, muttering, "Look, just-"

Revali kept his eyed glued onto the man, his suspicion roused, wondering what this Hylian's game was. Despite whatever history they had up until now, Revali wasn't about to loosen his caution simply over a bowl of food.

His eyes slanted in curiosity as Link's head wandered away, his voice leaving him as something of a hollowed echo, "She _isn't_ just anybody."

The Rito remained stagnant.

Link watched the landscape at his side, wholly uninterested in taking a glance at Revali while standing there, though his attention was stolen with blistering speed as the Rito suddenly took the bowl, nearly yanking it free from Link's clutch while the Hylian watched with concealed astonishment.

"Thanks," was all Revali said before he turned away, strolling toward a seat that wasn't so close to the man who had just brough him his meal.

Link watched him move away, rather torn on how he now felt about the man who had so much venom behind his words, though who so gallantly took Link to his lover's side for only the most unfathomable audiences of a resurrection.

He remained curious as he returned to the others. As uncertain of that man as he was of the journey to come.


	60. Savage Ties

_**Part Four - Vah Medoh**_

Link spun his hands in front of his waist, tightening down a massive knot until his palms began to burn atop the coarse rope, not even bothering to dare tempt death itself. His eyes shot up toward Revali, the Rito's face contorted in contempt as he peered up toward the sky, watching carefully the gentle strides Vah Medoh made across that blue yonder.

"It's time," he noted plainly, causing Link to sneer in frustration, still working on a second knot

"I know, I know," the Hylian complained, nearly tearing the skin within his hand as he yanked roughly at the rope once again, "I did _not_ come this far just to die."

Satisfied, somewhat, with the rope bound around his waist, Link took hold of Revali's arm, pulling him closer with a ferocious tug, his face spun in anger, "And if you _dare_ to- If this happens to be an elaborate attempt for you to kill me-"

Revali scoffed, his beak turned up into a wry, "Trust me- Had I wanted you dead, I had many more economical opportunities before this point in time."

He shrugged, sending the feathers upon his mantle to further flutter in the breezy air, "Consider this repayment for keeping to your own word and not slitting my throat while I slept."

Link's eyes narrowed with tenacity as Revali turned away, adjusting the rope around his own waist, chuckling as he did so, "_Always_ carrying you, aren't I?"

"Only for the time being, I assure you," Link muttered lowly.

"All for the best," Revali replied pithily, "I never back away from my commitments. You know that."

His arms constricted in a tenacious tug at his own rope end, "If I die doing this, how would you ever escape this rocky peak?"

Link's eyes zeroed in upon the man, even as Revali stepped away, "Perhaps I should embrace this new role of helping you all become better than yourselves. How was it that Zelda put it?"

"Oh, shut it," Link scoffed, a wiry grin emerging on his face as Revali shot a glance over his shoulder, "Just hurry it up; we're on a time-crunch."

Revali rolled his head along his shoulders as he approached the edge of the massive cliff face that overlooked the entirety of Tabantha, silhouetted only by the magnificent heights of Hebra'a mountainous terrain behind the Rito. He made the final preparations as he scanned the landscape beneath the two of them, catching only a slight glimpse of Link's target in this endeavour.

Revali's own target, he knew, was in the opposite direction.

"Don't you dare let that Beast kill you," Link suddenly spoke up in a wry voice, "Tell it to get in line behind me."

"Pah!" Revali scoffed, "To come across the end of one's life by the very hands of Witwa's own brother would be quite the honorable death, to be sure. and to be stricken down by, as you say, the greatest knight of Hyrule?!"

He caught a snarky throwing of Revali's shoulder as the Rito flinched at the thought, turning his head over his shoulder once again to catch a glimpse of the Hylian he had, once again, towed himself to.

"I suppose there's little honor in being stricken down by a friend," Link smirked.

Revali's eyes narrowed fiercely as he returned his attention to the earth below, yanking at the rope, "Just don't die, _yourself_. Tell those lowland scum I've had dibs for a solid month or two, now."

He caught the expanse of the Gisa Lowland from this perch atop Cuho Mountain, taking the rope in his hand as he heard Link speak up, only the most miniscule of shivers lining his voice.

"Ready."

Revali nodded with a mischievous smirk, the two taking off toward the final foothold atop this small outcropping of rock, until Revali leapt off, sending his body airborne as his wings shot out across the width of his body, diving in a disastrously dangerous descent as Link's eyed widened, sprinting faster now that the rope grew rapidly taut, threatening to yank him from the mountaintop without a proper leap to allow him to clear the embankment below.

He made a mad attempt at one final stride, taking the edge of the peak with one last footfall until he threw himself into gravity's arms, with only the pull of the rope around his waist being the only force acting upon him besides the weightless sensation of descending to one's death. His mind went blank as he fell, thinking only of that impending feeling of dread as he felt himself fall, faster and faster, catching only streaks of earth-like colors in his eyes as the landscape flew past him in a-

A massive *YANK* nearly tore him in two as Revali took that momentum and in a split second, turned it into an endless burst of speed as he shot up into the sky like a rocket. That sensation of descent that grappled at Link's very brain now had some direction to it as he swung parallel to the outcropping, leaving him bolting like a madman toward the craggy earth below. His mind was lost to him, yet he forced himself to comply with the plan conjured up by him and Revali.

He took a deathgrip of the dagger in his pocket, holding the blade against the thick rope as his teeth grit in suspense, still not certain that this plan wouldn't immediately result in death. He felt his breath leave him in this weightlessness, yet as his senses came to him, only in a fleeting moment, he clenched his jaw until it hurt, dragging the wiry blade of the dagger across the rope until it split off.

In a matter of seconds, that parallel momentum curved into one earthbound, though Revali's thrust had left his body hurtling wildly toward the Gisa Lowlands, the lack of an anchor point causing him to simply fly downward with little sense beyond that previous weightlessness.

At that moment, just as the brown, coarse earth began to shoot toward him as though it were a bullet, Link threw his hand around his back, yanking the shield from his back and holding it low as he drew his legs up into his torso, readying himself for impact not a second before he dug his feet into the interior side of the shield, the massive plate of metal crashing into the ground with a deafening *SSCRRRRRRRREEEEEEEE* as Link desperately attempted to balance himself, only to lose his footing near-instantly, sending the shield out from underneath him as his body slammed into the dusty cleft of land, hurtling along the surface as pain tore across his skin.

He threw his legs wide, allowing him to slow before turning his heel downward, his body jolting upright at the point of contact as he readied the Master Sword, catching the attention of the large collection of Rito's across the musty landscape.

"What in the bluster?!" cried Yzi with a start.

Link stood for only a moment, sword drawn, before his legs began to shake, leaving him slowly wavering in his placement while his posture began to slump.

"Link!" came Zelda's voice from within the cluster of Rito

"_Keh_," Yzi cackled, raising his hand up toward his shoulder before throwing it in Link's direction, "_Get_ _him_. Make sure he can't crawl away this time."

The swarm of scraggly Rito descended upon Link, the soldier's eyes shaking as his body slowly lost its strength, leaving him, seemingly, with only one final gesture.

He raised his on hand, pointing behind him.

Yzi's eyes slanted in a scowl as he raised his vision, only for his face to melt into a look of astonishment.

"GAH!" he screamed, turning to his lackeys, "GO! GET'IM!"

A subordinate spoke up in a panic, "How many-?!"

"GO!" Yzi shouted angrily, leaving his band of lowland Rito in a frenzy as they deliberated who amongst them should keep watch over the Princess of Hyrule and who should go after the ascending Revali.

Without any pause for assembly, Yzi took off like a dart into the sky, his feathers fluttering in a furious gale as his eyes turned bloodshot atop his grimacing face, spun as it was in endless madness. He tore through the very atmosphere, feeling it whip against his body, nearly pelting him, tearing against his skin in reparation for his own action. His experience took him to the sky at a much greater speed, leaving him gaining on Revali as Vah Medoh watched over the two in referee, leaving Yzi with his eyes dead-set on his target.

He knew that, before those laser cannons atop Vah Medoh could strip Revali of life, he would oblige the man he had come to despise with ever fiber of his being.

* * *

"Please tell me again," Daruk groaned defeatedly, running an open hand along his stomach, "Why are we depriving ourselves of the finest offerings Hyrule has to offer?"

Zelda frowned, raising her head astutely as she replied, "_Because_, the absolute _last_ thing I'm going to do is give my father even a _second_ of an _inclination_ that I might not have succeeded in my goal. As soon as we would show up, he would grin that knowing smirk and start preparing that lecture that I'm sure he's been thinking about ever since I left for this quest."

A chuckle came from Urbosa, "You sound _so_ much like your mother."

"Yeah, well-" Zelda began, only to pause before frowning, turning her lips in an upright curl, "There was a reason she managed to put up with him."

The Champions had begun their trudging quest back across the plains of Hyrule Kingdom, having left the Trilby Plains that sat beneath the mountains of Eldin. Passing through the Crenel Peaks once again, they had decided to defer from the northern route to Tabantha that took them through the chilly, snowcapped tundras of Hebra, and instead chose the southern route through Hyrule Ridge, even if that passage took them right along the fields just beyond the walls of Hyrule Castle.

Zelda had taken a rather noticeable turn of character, growing rather defiant of the many plans laid out by the others: Urbosa had wanted a restful night within one of the inns, Daruk was thrilled by the prospect of whatever feast might be prepared for them, while Mipha would have been excited for a first trip into Hyrule Town, not the least of which because it meant she could catch a glimpse of Link's home. Even Link, amidst all his stoicism, had dropped an idea or two regarding the possibility of stopping into town, but for all of the Champions' goading, Zelda had nothing to say beyond quick rejections.

"I suppose, if you truly are hungry, we'll be passing by the quarry before we reach the Regencia," Zelda noted with a sigh, having grown tired of Daruk's incessant pleas, though this topic as roused the Goron to new heights.

"Oh, _really_?!" he spoke up in awe, "I thought I smelled obsidian in the air!"

Link rolled his eyes, "You're like a dog, some-"

"GAH!" Daruk flinched, "I am not! Those- devilish things shouldn't ever be compared to a living being!"

Mipha turned her head to the side, "Aren't dogs living th-"

"Of course not!" Daruk insisted, "They're the hellhounds of death itself!"

Urbosa chimed in sneakily, "Perhaps if you were made of wood and not rock."

Frowning, Daruk crossed his arms, "Why, I never! Getting back to the point, I suppose I could try some of the rocks the Kingdom of Hyrule has to offer. I've visited before, but- I wasn't offered, and I think it might be a bit impolite to just go eating rocks."

"But _licking_ them is fine?" Revali scoffed in disgust, recalling their first trek up Sartori Mountain as well as their entrance into Zora River, "You animal."

Urbosa smirked as she eyed the Rito, "You better watch out. Those Tabantha rocks might be absolutely intoxicating."

"I wouldn't know," Revali retorted with a huff, "We Rito have no need for rocks."

A quizzical sort of look grew on Link's face, "Don't you live on a giant rock column of a thing?"

"We do not _live_ on a _giant rock column thing_, you dolt," Revali charged with dismay, "We _perch_."

Link shrugged, "Such a difference."

"You make fun, Hylian; I suggest you be more like the more respectable of your kind that happen to find us Rito rather appealing, versus your childish view of us," Revali noted in bemusement, "Our travels have brought tales of entire stories, woven by Hylian poets, about how warm our mantles are and how the fluttering of our feathers arouses their most-"

"Hold up," Urbosa suddenly interrupted with a start, throwing her open palms in front of her, "We've got younger ones, here."

Revali scoffed, "Tch! What fails to be respectable about these Hylians depicting the Rito as-?"

"Maybe we _should_ turn around and return to the town," Link smirked, "I think something got lost in the translation."

"Nuh uh!" Zelda fired back, "We press on!"

Urbosa grinned, "Sounds like we're not the only ones doing that, from the sound of it."

Suddenly sputtering, Revali threw his arms out wide, "I cannot help that so many Hylians would rather dabble in the beauty of us Rito rather than remained compelled to toil amongst the rest of their ilk. I can at least admire their heightened thinking."

The feathers atop his chest fluttered as he puffed himself up proudly, "That same heightened thinking you all should start inviting amongst yourselves. After all, this is _my_ domain, and you will _all_ be relying, indubitably, upon my expertise. And as my guests, you will _not_ be laying a single tongue upon these lands."

Daruk noisily made his complaint known through a snort, though it was Zelda who replied with some semblance of substance, "You have a point there. If you don't mind offering us something of a primer toward these lands, if only to get our minds _off_ of the Castle…"

"Absolutely! I would be thrilled to regale this Company with tales of Rito greatness!" Revali declared, clearing his throat before tilting his head as if coming to note something in his mind, "Even for all their tarnished history, the lowland Rito themselves, who I'm sure we'll be coming across on this excursion, have quite wonderous tales to tell themselves! Now, how bright that sheen of reputation rests upon us Rito that even the lesser of us can be seen as wonderous themselves?"

Mipha quizzically piped up, "I've actually been meaning to ask- you've mentioned them before, but-"

"Ah, the lowland Rito?" Revali nodded astutely, "I told you all, many weeks ago, now, our most revered of legends- that of our guardian deity, Witwa, who was locked into combat with his two siblings. So far as the legends go, as the victor, those who followed Witwa were given Greater Tabantha- that is, the magnificent spire that arose from the depths of Lake Totori. As the losers, the followers of Timte and Vurla were relegated to the lowlands on the opposite side of Cuho Mountains, where the vegetation is much worse and Strock Lake only serves to remind them of the wonderous waters of Totori."

Shrugging, Revali went on, "While our two collections of Rito get along, we simply live as we have for thousands of years, now, even if the occasional ragamuffin sprouts up among the plains of Gisa, hoping to return his people to that once-promised land to the north. Their current chieftain is a man by the name of Yzi, and although his people have been increasingly spouting plans to reintegrate, by force, if necessary, he seems to understand the score and keeps them subjugated. for the most part."

Zelda's eyes ran toward the Rito, "For the _most_ _part_..?"

"There are skirmishes, of course. A handful of ambuscades whenever our younger ones travel too far to the south, but nothing that has ever bled over into savagery," Revali explained plainly, "I do recall a tale of an event a hundred years ago where a lowlander was drawn and quartered atop Nero Hill, but given the location, my own people asserted that it wasn't them, but the Hylians."

Urbosa frowned as she noticed Mipha's sudden adjustment upon her face, a curious glance leaving the Zora as she questioned, "I thought those were just stories."

"They _are_," Link muttered in pithy reply.

"Pah! I wouldn't expect a Hylian to admit to such things," Revali spat out venomously, "They could very well be the stuff of bedtime stories now, but the conflict between the Rito and Hylians was certainly a bloody affair."

Mipha's brow fell, "But why?"

Huffing with a deep breath as he shook his head, Revali remained silent as he stewed, leaving Zelda to answer with a grave tone, "Rivers and mountains tend to create natural border, but Hebra is mostly bordered by Tanagar Canyon. Some expeditionary Hylians chose to settle, long ago, along the outlying portions of the Scablands, hoping to take advantage of the rich soil there, I assume believing they had the right to do so, given the expanse that separated the land from Tabantha."

"The Rito, uh, didn't agree," Zelda concluded with a plain voice, hoping to avoid those biases that so often lined the Hylian historians she so often had read from.

Revali frowned, "_No_. and when we disagreed, out came the Hylian soldiers, ready to steal those lands, _and_ more, had they not been met by a collection of both major tribes of Rito."

Feeling her heart weighed down by such a history that was to become her mantle upon ascending the throne, Zelda's lips curled distastefully, speaking in almost reverent sorrow, "There were battles. and many people died. Ultimately, Hyrule emerged victorious."

Revali sneered quietly as Zelda pulled out the map that had so carried them along this trek, noting out locations for Mipha's curious eyes, "-as evidenced by our very maps. Hyrule Ridge, the area became known, and this mountain, here, even bears the name of my savage great-grandfather. and, coincidentally, my own father."

"Even if our own maps fail to reflect such boorish attempts at claiming lands," Revali scoffed simply, "Were there a silver lining, the lowland Rito were so concerned with the encroaching Hylians that they lessened their attention on Greater Tabantha. Any time those Hylians built that stupid bridge, they would strike it down, again and again; after the soldiers left the farmers alone, the lowlanders would strike in the night, leaving their crops a ruinous pipe-dream."

A rather coarse grin grew atop Revali's face, "I would quite like to see what sort of entrance I will receive by those loafers."

"As much as I understand your animosity, Revali," Zelda sighed, "Part of my goal as Princess, and even as Queen, is, and will be, attempting to loosen the bonds that so fervently tie our two peoples to hatred. That's why this Company is as it is; when all the peoples of Hyrule come together, we can even send a Zora into Death Mountain."

Knowing what he did, a pithy glance left Revali, aimed at Zelda as she continued with low shoulders, "Even you and Link, as head strong as the two of you are- were you two to work together-"

"Gah!"

"Ew…" replied the two in unison, leaving Zelda with a scowl.

"_As I was saying_\- My point is that- Even if we're met with tension in the air, Revali, please; this is a peaceful troupe. We're fighting for a brighter future, not for instant, short-lived gratification."

Still glaring at her with a droll expression, Revali remained silent for a moment before finally letting loose a sigh, turning forward once more as his arms crossed tightly across his chest, "Fine. I understand."

"Wow," Urbosa mused with a surprised shrug, "That was something."

Revali peered at her from over his shoulder, "Don't get used to it, Gerudo."

"I certainly won't," she smirked, "I'm just amazed, is all."

Huffing to himself, Revali slung his shoulders forward to bush up the feathers that lined his torso, failing to reply as he simply strolled along in time with the rest of the Champions, shutting his eyes in reflection as the breezy winds surged in focused torrents as they rolled down Mount Gustaf to the south.

His eyes only peeked open as he caught a sudden, low rumbling beneath his talonous feet, frowning as he recognized, immediately, the source of that foreign sensation.

"Uh," Daruk spoke up mutely, nearly hopping as he stepped along, his hands clutching his stomach, "Are we getting close to that, uh, obsidian? I can smell it."

Link replied with a swift tongue, "Rocks don't smell."

"Oh?" Daruk answered in a critiquing breath, "Am I imagining that wafting magnificence of- Nope. There it goes."

Grinning, Link shook his head, "Even your attention span matches a dog's."

His brow furrowing worriedly at an apparently growing list of similarities, Daruk was only stilled by a quick glance from Zelda as she smiled over her shoulder, "Don't worry. It's right up here."

"Wa ha!" Daruk cheered, "I call dibs!"

Urbosa gave a wry stare, "No arguments here, man."


	61. The Wiles of Willowdale

Daruk's eyes sparkled like diamonds encased in solid rock as he watched the local blacksmith carrying back with him a satchel of ore, the man grimacing with some trembling fright now that Daruk clutched the desk that sat near the entrance to the prospector's tent, seemingly ready to pounce toward him.

The Hylian slowed his advance with continued worry, though Zelda assured him simply enough, smiling defeatedly as she nodded, "Don't worry; his bark is worse than his bite. or, rather, his posture is worse."

The blacksmith, Ronk, stepped forward timidly still, recoiling as he dropped the satchel atop the desk, leaving Daruk awestruck, "Goddess! It's a veritable masterpiece of assorted chunks of ore!"

Zelda nodded, "They say the castle was constructed where it was because of the magnificent glow of the landscape when the light hit the soil just right. Apparently, the ore was so shallow that it only added its luster to the very ground beneath us."

"Well, such brilliant planning shouldn't go unrecognized," Daruk grinned sneakily, rubbing his mitts together in anticipation, "nor untasted."

Nestled between the quarry and the Regencia river, the Champions had taken time out to visit the tiny settlement of Willowdale, the small length of buildings originally put up as an outpost toward any oncoming threats from the west; however, with the quarry booming in the wake of the King's massive excavation work, the small town had begun to bustle, with many miners strolling along the stretch of businesses with their pockets newly lined with rupees.

Especially as of late, the once-sleepy town benefited from its prosperous position just within the plains of Hyrule; any trade heading toward the castle would pass through here, leading to a rather impressive collection of cultures. While Hylians made up their businesses, Zora, Goron, Rito, and Gerudo alike had congregated to benefit from the riches being mined, even if the conglomeration meant fewer and fewer people stood to profit. Still, Willowdale remained a popular destination for most people attracted to the marriage of cultures allowed to ruminate along that stretch of road.

Nowhere else was this mixture more noticeable than at the boisterous tavern that had been erected along that trade road, The Dry Lychee, where each culture's arguable claims to fame were brought to ruminate, amalgamate, and permeate in endless assortments of alcoholic beverages, from the Goron's quartz brew, to the Gerudo's 'Cove Soda', and even the Rito's signature drink to play tables games around, 'Kodlal's Magnificent Cocktail' managed to establish itself among these parts. Bartenders would mix outlandish concoctions from all these varying cultures, finding out new and amazing beverages that would greet the dry, peckish lips of quarrymen before quickly gaining names and reputations among travelers themselves.

Link turned down the bar toward Mipha, leaning in close to speak to her beneath the ravenous bustle of patrons all along the inside of the tavern, "See anything?"

"No," she muttered almost helplessly, "I haven't, uh, ever-"

Before Link could suggest anything non-alcoholic, Urbosa's voice came booming from the other side of the Hylian as she leaned backward to face Mipha, "Try the Starlight Stir! I hear it's to die for!"

Mipha bit her lip with apprehension as Link tuned the Gerudo out, rolling his eyes before assuring, "They've got milk, too, I'm sure."

"No," Mipha repeated, more so with determination this time, "I- I want to try _something_!"

Shrugging with a surprised expression, Link nodded, "Alright. Anything catch your- Bartender!"

He reached a hand up, catching the attention of the scruffy-faced owner of the tavern, who sauntered over as if he had a leg made of wood, hobbling along before stopped in front of the quartet of Champions, pressing his hands against the countertop as if to steady himself.

"What'c'n I do fer ya?" he asked with broken speech.

Link turned to Mipha for a moment before returning, "What all have you got that's in the 'lesser alcohol' family?"

"Ah!" the man exclaimed, reaching up to dive his hand into his beard, sending the coarse hair there to churn as he scratched his chin, "We got's'm Nugget Cloud'f yer inta _that_ stuff. Other th'n that, s'me Imperial Verdn't."

"We'll go with that for her," Link nodded, giving Mipha a slight smile as he went on, "And a little bit of Murk Mirage for me."

Urbosa marveled, "Ah! Something from the desert!"

Before Link could reply in a droll tone, Urbosa threw an arm around his neck, pulling him close before rubbing a vigorous fist atop his head, "Atta boy!"

He pulled away, ashamedly looking away as he fixed his hair, avoiding the giggling glance from Mipha.

"I'll get some Cove Soda for now," Urbosa snickered.

"Fer _now_?! Well, lass, you be my fav'rite customer!" the bartender chuckled, turning toward Revali, who sat on the end of the foursome, "'nd you, mate?"

Revali frowned as if displeased by his selection, muttering coolly, "You haven't much of a selection at all, have you..?"

The bartender replied with a solid grimace of his own, though the prospect of losing a customer overtook any animosity that might have begun to rise, leaving him only to answer with, "I've got wh'tever ya see, but I c'n mix up anythin' ya might like t' try."

His lips rolling back and forth with indesiciveness, Revali finally growned, rubbing his face with his hand, "Just- How about some Estuary Ale with some Fermentary."

"Aye, sir! I c'n-"

"YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!"

In a split second, the entire tavern burst wide open into a raucous applause, sending Mipha's head shooting over her shoulder with a terrifying stare, startled by the applause that seemed to vibrate the very building, even shaking the darkly humid air that clung to the atmosphere of the dusky tavern. Link reached a gentle hand atop her shoulder, chuckling as he leaned in once again.

"You'll get it in a little bit, don't worry; I'll show you."

Mipha returned a glance up toward Link, his warm eyes seemingly bringing a calmness to her every nerve as she nodded, growing rather curious now that Link seemed to be aware of that off phenomenon. Link returned to the bartender with a nod as the old man hobbled away quickly, preparing their drinks with a certain care that seemed out of place amidst such a wild environment.

Seeming as though she were right as home, Urbosa leaned back atop the barstool, twisting her back in a large swatch of stretches as she noted loudly, breaking through the bustling volume ringing from wall to wall, "Giving that poor man the business, eh Revali?"

"The business is _his_," Revali reminded with a scowl, "I don't drop rupees for just anybody. It must be fairly earned."

Urbosa grinned, shaking her head, "Just wait until you're a few drinks in. I'm absolutely aflutter with the thought of seeing your _true_ self once the alcohol takes away that veneer of yours."

"Pah!" Revali scoffed, "We Rito _never_ drink to excess."

Urbosa's eyes widened with excitement, "Goddess, I _so_ wish you did! Flying around, doing drunken loopty-loops? I would drop _so_ many rupees to see that."

"At least if this Champion thing doesn't work out," Link quipped with a smirk, "You have a legitimate business of your own to consider."

Revali replied with a sidelong stare toward the others, muttering as his eyes came to Mipha, "At least _you_ seem to understand the merits of controlling yourself."

"I mean, I don't think alcohol has the same effect on Zora; at least, not _your_ kind," she acknowledged plainly, obviously unsure of the topic beyond a general sense, "I think I remember our stuff was once quite prized, simply due to the novelty of it."

Urbosa rolled her eyes, "Ah, yes… There are stories of some beer brewed within Lulu Lake."

"Pfft," Link stifled a laugh, "Really? We had those, too. Something about some shady Zora peddler selling water and marketing it as 'Zoran Whiskey' or something.

Urbosa frowned, "Really? The rumor back in the desert was that it was from the lake was where all the burly Zora men bathed."

Link blew a furious laugh between his tight lips, unable to contain himself while Mipha also joined in with a good-natured laugh of her own. Revali merely propped his elbows onto the bar, burying his face into his hands as he groaned to himself, utterly tired, already, of such humor.

"I mean, I guess that might appeal to your fellow Gerudo," Link reasoned wryly.

Urbosa widened her eyes for a brief moment in exasperation, "I suppose not really; the peddler would take the very same bottles and market them, also, as brewed from the waters of Mikau Lake, which is where the most beautiful Zora women were said to bathe. Like, literally, the _same_ water."

Mipha spoke up, earning the two's attention as she noted, "I don't know about any lakes being specific bathing spots, but I think the story has the two mixed up. Mikau would be the 'male' lake, and Lulu would be the 'female' one, so far as the names go."

"See? This is what happens when alcohol and long nights join together," Urbosa groaned, "All the stories just run together and get all screwed up."

Link smirked, "I mean, it created a better story in the end, I think."

"I suppose," Urbosa shrugged, "Just don't be selling plain water while Revali's charging tickets, you hear?"

Covering her mouth to conceal a giggle, Mipha nodded, "I understand."

"I'll let you know-" Urbosa paused as the barkeep strode over with tremendous effort, his uneven gait sending only a few sloshes of liquid running over the steins as he raised his hands to keep them somewhat free from his movements before resting them gently atop the bar.

"Here ya go!" he proudly proclaimed, divvying out the four tall mugs, leaving Revali's for last, uttering in warning, "Just let me know 'f ya need somethin' else t' cut a bit o' th' sting."

Frowning with placid eyes, offended by the man's insinuation that he couldn't hold his liquor, Revali snatched away the stein, sliding it close to his chest as he offered almost pitiably, "_Thanks_."

The bartender sent his smile down the line of travelers before stalking along the length of the bar to tend to other patrons, his absence prompting Urbosa to sit up in her seat, a disgusted look on her face, "Goddess! Revali, is that yours?!"

She leaned in close for a whiff of his beverage, though Revali quickly slid the mug away with a disgusted look himself, leaving Urbosa to quip, "That thing _reeks_ of alcohol!"

"As it should," he proclaimed simply, "What have you to think of our Rito bodies that such a stench makes you believe I will quake with fear?"

Urbosa eyed him quizzically, leaving Link to respond, taking a sip of his own drink, "She means that drinks are meant to be enjoyed, not defeated."

"I _enjoy_ it all the same," Revali asserted easily, bringing the brew to his lips before carefully pouring some along the side of his beak, making a show to gasp in satisfaction as he returned the stein to the bar, "Aaaaah."

Link shook his head, "I'd say 'whatever floats your boat', but- A boat isn't the only thing floating in a bit."

Just before taking a sip of her own, Urbosa suddenly broke her hand away before leaning forward, laughing at his words while Link only rolled his eyes at Revali's behavior, turning toward Mipha as she silently stared into her own cup, her hands spinning in benign circles as she watched the vicous liquid slosh around within the vessel. Link smiled sweetly at her antics, taking another sip of his own before assuring her.

"Still want to try? One sip isn't going to do anything, especially for a Zora."

She eyed him, "What's it supposed to do?"

"Well, if _we_ drink enough, we get drunk, right?" he noted simply, shrugging, "Not Knights, of course; we're not allowed to take more than a couple steins at any time, but Urbosa, here, could probably pound an oasis-full of the stuff-"

"That's putting it _mildly_," Urbosa smirked wryly, "My age, and responsibilities, have forced me to slow my natural speed when it comes to this stuff, but there's a reason I was known as the Desert Swimmer in my younger age."

She stared off into space fondly for a brief moment before chuckling, turning toward Link and Mipha, "There's nowhere, really, to swim in a desert, you know."

"Yeah, got it," Link nodded pithily, returning to Mipha, "Getting drunk kind of loosens your faculties, and while that inhibits your judgement, it also does a number on your natural defenses when it comes to facades."

Mipha watched him warily as he grinned, "Which is why Urbosa was so interested in our Rito spilling some down his gullet."

"Misguided as always," Revali murmured dismissively.

Link assured once again, "But, again, a few sips won't affect you much, if at all."

Lips pursed in something of interest, Mipha took another somewhat lengthy glance at the drink before slowly bringing the stein up to her mouth, carefully taking a swig before immediately tearing the cup away from her face, a dainty cough leaving her as the drink left a twinge of heat swirling along her tongue.

"There you go!" Urbosa charged with exuberance, "That'll put-! Well, you have no hair, but still! Get 'em, girl!"

Link couldn't but chuckle at Urbosa's sudden burst of enthusiasm, reaching over as he did so to pat Mipha's back, bridging the gap between his lips and her ear even more to allow a softer voice, "That bad, huh?"

"N- No," she assured with a challenged shake of her head, "It was just- unexpected, I guess."

Link stroked her back, the warmth of his hand calming her quivering nerves, "It's okay. So long as we're waiting for those two, we in no hurr-"

*clang*

"YAAAAAAAAAAY!"

"WOOOHOOOOO!"

The tavern once again exploded into a mass of hysteria as every patron burst out a thrilling cry of emotion, with even Urbosa getting into it this time, sending the walls of the building into a frenzy from the collective tremor of energy. Mipha shook once again at the sudden clasp of sensation, turning to Link, who turned away from the bar in his seat to offer his own bit of applause, laughing to himself as he returned to Mipha.

"We probably seem like animals," he quipped humorously.

Mipha watched him cautiously, "What was-"

"Ah, I've got to show you," Link nodded in recollection, grabbing his stein and carrying to his lips, taking a massive swig as Urbosa watched with awe.

"Now, child!" she began to scold before laughing, "You're like the pool beneath a waterfall!"

Mipha looked on with awe, based solely on Urbosa's amazement, not understanding, at all, the trial Link was currently partaking in, before the Knight brought his stein nearly upright, taking in the last swig of drink before returning it to its proper stance.

"Aah. _There_," he proclaimed proudly before explaining, "And whenever you finish a glass-"

His drink finished, Link raised the stein up only slightly before slamming it onto the wooden top of the bar, the patrons all replying with a boisterous,

"YEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

Link couldn't help but smirk embarrassingly at the newest clamor being directed at him, forcing himself to lean forward toward the bar as Urbosa pounded the palm of her hand into his back.

"Yo ho _ho_!" she exclaimed, obviously quite far into her own stein.

Revali shook his head underneath the thunderous, dull roar of the bar patrons, grumbling lowly, "Animals _indeed_…"

Waving the bartender over with wild fluctuations of her wrist, Urbosa shouted, "Another! Another!"

Link shook his head, "I can't, really."

"Why?!" Urbosa exclaimed.

Pointing to his chest, Link eyed her seriously, "Me. Knight. Remember?"

Frowning, Urbosa's lips spun in scathing critique, "Knight, my ass. You're no longer a knight, you dope."

Reaching across her body as she held onto his shoulder, only somewhat for balance, Urbosa slammed a fist into his chest, "You're a _Champion_, now. and Champions make merry!"

With a groan, Link rolled his eyes as the bartender approached, the Hylian muttering, "Just one more, please. A half of a mug, maybe."

The scraggily man nodded with a smirk before spinning around erratically, leaving Link to return to Mipha, only for a look of shock to stretch across his face.

"Mipha?!"

Indeed, in the interim between now and the last time he'd watched her, Mipha was barreling her beverage down her throat with reckless abandon. Too sensitive to her current act of swallowing the large amount of drink, he couldn't very well stop her, simply forcing him to watch with an amalgamation of confusion and wonderment.

"Goddess!" Urbosa shouted as she leaned forward to watch, mouth agape.

Link's eyes widened, "N- No kidding."

A soft stream of alcohol began to stream down Mipha's chin as she ingested the drink as a whole, finally, after what seemed like an hour, she dropped her head forward as the stein pulled away from her face, only a gentle cough escaping her as she felt the scorching aftereffects of the liquid on her throat.

Link couldn't move, his jaw fallen as it was, only for Mipha to shoot him a sidelong glance as a wry smirk crossed her face before slamming the tall mug into the bar herself.

"YAAAAAAAAAAAY!

"WOAAAAAAAAHRRR!"

Another powerful eruption of electric cheers and hollers broke the thick air of the tavern, leaving Mipha to laugh beneath the intense wave of gravity that seemed to fluctuate around her.

"That was fun," she concluded with a grin.

Link could only watch, still in shock, before finally managing an utterance, "I- What-"

Her lips glistened with leftover libation as she left him with a mocking simper, "I couldn't let you beat me so _easily_, now could I?"

A disjointed, surprised laugh left Link as he looked around, still uncertain as to this reality, before spinning back toward Urbosa, who only teased him through a tipsy tone, "Hey, you're a man, _aren't you_? You better keep that one."

"I-" Link stammered, finally reorienting his collectively failing thoughts as he started again, "Okay, we're not about to turn this into a duel."

Mipha smirked mischievously, "Scared you that much, did I?"

"_Hardly_," Link scoffed, hoping to safe face even as Mipha giggled at his show of machismo, "It's just-"

His eyes never wavered from her own as he leaned in close. Mipha felt a shiver running down the length of her spine as his face approached hers, until his tongue slid between his lips, catching that trail of alcohol along her chin before taking her into a kiss, cleaning her lips as his warm, sultry embrace upon her own pair left her nearly as breathless as that massive swig of beer had.

He made sure to let his lips curl into a smirk against her own before pulling away with a chillingly slow speed, his voice breaking through in a heated, low tone, "You're the only thing I want to drink endlessly."

Were a blush ever possible upon her face, Mipha was sure she would have experiences such a sensation.

"What?!" Urbosa shouted in annoyance, "What'd you say?!"

Link left Mipha with a prolonged stare atop his own smirk before turning to Urbosa to answer, "Nothing."

Urbosa's brow shot forward, "That wasn't _nothing_, boy!"

"That's all you're gonna hear, though," Link grinned, earning him a particularly nasty sneer from Urbosa as she took another sip of her drink.

She growled lowly, "You're lucky this stuff turns me into a teddy bear…"

"Pshaw, a _teddy_ _bear_," Revali suddenly quipped from her other side, "A lynel, more like it."

Inebriated as he'd become from such a rushed chug, Link couldn't restrain a laugh of sputtering past his closed lips, his arm rushing up to cover his face while Urbosa dramatically raised her head, only to lower it to the side, eying the Rito with serious, clenched eyes.

"Got a problem, bird man?"

Revali flinched begrudgingly, shooting a stare back at her, "With you three? Quite so, yes."

Urbosa's lips curled with suspicion as she turned slowly back toward her drink, muttering lowly, "So nothing new, then…"

"What? Still expecting me to fall drunk?" Revali suddenly challenged, raising his voice, "Such a preposterous proposition! A veritable- A-!"

Stumbling over his words, a phenomenon that seemed unheard of coming from one as persnickety as Revali, Link and Urbosa spun their stares toward the Rito, who took a final swing of his filthily alcoholic drink, gasping g for breath as he angrily proclaimed, "Such boorish insinuation! An intonation of-! That is-!"

Urbosa's lips turned asnarl as she grinned widely, leaned back closer toward Link as she spoke up in autopsy language, "Oh, it comin'."

Nodding, Link watched Revali more with apprehension than humor, even as Mipha joined in a surprised look of her own. The Rito's clamoring drew to a climax as he sputtered noisily, earning even the bartender's attention.

"Your own, sniveling- Take that!"

He suddenly slammed his empty stain into the bar, sending the tavern alight with whooping cheers.

"YEAAAA-!"

Unsatisfied, Revali drew his Stein upward once more, furiously slamming it down onto the wooden bar with repeated blows, shouting with boisterous exuberance as he raised his other hand into the air, "Cheer on! Praise your Rito over-!"

"Hey, now!" the bartender spoke up urgently, now that the cheering had immediately died down due to Revali's continuing slams, "Calm down ya rabble-"

Revali's incessant clamoring caused a nearby table of quarrymen to rise to their feet, the most superior among them shouting loudly at the Rito, "Hey! Quit rousting the bar, feather brain!"

Lost in some depth of drunkenness, Revali shot a piercing gaze over his shoulder, biting the air as he went on slamming the stein, "Now cheer!"

"Oh, we're gonna cheer alright," the man growled, rolling a sleeve up his arm as he threw his head in direction, sending himself and the three other Hylian men at the table toward the bar as he shouted, "And shut that incessant racket up!"

The bartender clutched the edge of the bar to steady himself as he pleaded, "N- Now, patrons! Let's just-!"

The old man's spine shook wildly as Revali took the stein and, instead of continuing his bothersome slams, wound up his arm and threw the stein at the collection of Hylians, just barely missing their leading man as he ducked out of the way, his teeth seething angrily as he began charging the bar.

"Gah, ha ha!" Urbosa chuckled, covering her face with her hand as her head shook from side to side, "Oh goddess, how stupid we've become!"

Revali turned, sliding off his stool as he squared up, angrily spinning his face forward while raising his fists, spouting out in a concealed rage, "Come on, then! I've been meaning to do this, you goons!"

The quarryman took a step forward, readying a punch, when the shrill echo of a sword exiting its sheath split the air, the man turning with a start toward Link, who had drawn the Master Sword, holding it out as his eyes jumped from one participant to the next, finally resting atop the main man amongst them.

"Let's not do this, now," he warned coldly.

Revali seethed, "No! Let's!"

The Rito jolted forward, feigning a strike, which forced the quarrymen to recoil, the shameful reaction causing them to burn with retaliation, though Link only drew his Sword higher, stepping closer into that space between the two parties.

"Okay, the Rito is cut off," Link groaned, "Don't let him ruin your night."

The leader shouted, "The beast threw a freakin' mug at my head!"

His eyes coursing, Revali sneered, "And I'd do it again."

The quarrymen finally advanced, despite Link's drawn weapon, leaving Revali to shrug his shoulders, sending his plumage fluttering in an impressive display, perhaps meant to incite terror within an opponent, but the quarrymen weren't about to be deterred. Link bit his lip as he dropped his arm, knowing better than to draw blood, before shoving himself against the pair of quarrymen charging Revali's position.

"In the name of the King, I command you-!" Link started, only for one of the men to push him away with a cackle.

"This pathetic waif," one of the men laughed, "Piss off, kid!"

Link's brow drew forward angrily as he took his hands to the man's shoulders, forcing his weight into a massive shove that sent the quarryman barreling backward, knocking down another and sending them to the ground with a *THUD*. The other two men, their leader among them, squared up themselves as Link readied himself, the tavern beginning to rouse themselves with cheers amidst the encroaching violence, a loud collection of boisterous voices and growls nearly deafening the entire audience of bar-goers.

"That's more like it!" Revali shouted, pushing Link to the side as he approached the two cronies, "Back off, you fool! Allow me to show you how a Rito-!"

Without warning, the quarryman rushed into Revali, barreling into the Rito's body and sending him sailing back into the bar, a loud *CRACK* bursting through the air as his body shattered the stool as he descended, his faculties. Link threw his hands to grab the back of the man's shoulders, only for the second quarryman to rush up to Link, sending a punch sailing through the air meant for the knight's face, only for Mipha to glance the man's shin just enough to send him folding up onto the floor, the bar growing into an incessantly magnificent auditorium as cheers and screams echoed to a crescendo at the sight of a female Zora joining the fray.

Before Link could ready himself, the quarryman leader had spun toward him, readying a swift punch that was only met with a quicker dodge by Link, who spun away, sending a calculated arm through the air to catch the man's neck with his wrist, yanking the man neck-first into his chest as if in a choke-hold, eying the two others who had finally recuperated from their drunken collapse.

"HEEEY!" came a booming voice, rising even higher than the cacophonous volume of bar patron's cheers, sending a tremor right across the floor that made it appear as though an earthquake were crossing just underneath everybody's feet.

The mass of eyes quickly turned toward the door, Link and Mipha catching Daruk there with his hands drawn cupped around his mouth as he stood there, frowning, while Zelda stood at his side, arms crossed, as she watched angrily from the entrance.

"_Thank you_, Daruk," she muttered with a low voice, "Now _what_ in the goddesses name is going on in here?!"

The quarrymen lazily attempted to make themselves presentable, with one of them slapping the other awake, complaining dully, "C'mon, you fool! It's the freakin' Princess!"

At Zelda's question, Link released the man from his grasp, who quickly stepped away, clutching his neck with a soothing caress while turning to eye the man who had just subdued him.

"Pfft, nothing," Urbosa cackled with a wonderous voice as she spun around atop her barstool, "Just some fun! Well, fun for _me_, anyway."

Zelda groaned, recognizing the Gerudo's lack of faculties as she stepped deeper into the tavern, approaching the quarrymen with a frown before speaking up, "Get on out of here. I'll handle your tab as an apology."

While such a deal sent three of the men into a thrilling tizzy, the leader barred his teeth, "And what of _them_?! This one's impersonatin' a soldier or somethin'!"

Zelda glanced at Link with confusion, answering, "It is no impersonation. This man is a Royal Knight. Would he have willed it, you four wouldn't be allowed the ability to walk home. As for the Rito-"

She stared at Revali as he shakily worked his way up from the floor, his drunken stupor leaving him barely able to even find a proper place to push himself up.

"Just go," she repeated with a frown, which sent the four men slowly exiting the tavern, amidst a varying assortment of disagreement.

Zelda sighed before raising a hand, turning toward the larger collection of patrons before speaking up, "Go back to your drinks, please."

Despite her words, even as the guests gradually began returning to their previous conversations, the volume had decreased significantly in discomfort while Zelda and Daruk strolled up to the bar, the Goron helping Revali up to his feet.

"Heh heh," Daruk chortled with a grin before teasing in a sing-song voice, "You got in trooouble."

His drunken anger having been snuffed out like a gasoline fire left with nothing to power it further, Revali has taken to exhaustion as Daruk picked him up, pulling another stool over to sit him on before dropping his torso along the top of the bar, leaving the Rito lying there listlessly.

Urbosa's eyes strained, "I wanna sing a song."

"Please don't," Link pleaded.

Zelda reached into her pockets, finding a few rupees there to hand off to the barkeep, sighing as she apologized, "Sorry for that. Hopefully that covers the stool, as well."

"Oh, gracious, me!" the man shouted in surprise, "_Anythin'_ from the Princess 's good graces is plenty! Now, er, what would'ya like, you two?"

Daruk patted Revali on the back as the Rito fell asleep in his slumped-over posture before waving a hand, "Oh, I'm fine, thank you."

"She'll have some milk," Urbosa noted, her once floaty air now turning somewhat serious as Zelda took a seat down the line beside Mipha.

Link frowned, "Hold on, how come I get goaded into drinking while she gets a pass?"

"Because I'm not responsible for you all," Urbosa plainly spoke, shrugging, "I'm not about to allow my darling bird to fall prey to such pressure."

His eyes widening, Link jabbed an open hand toward the Gerudo, "_You're_ the pressure!"

"Whoa, hold it, boy; your woman's right there!" Urbosa suddenly cackled, scoffing at her own joke before falling into laughter, shaking her head exuberantly while Link turned a droll stare toward Mipha, who replied with a wry smirk of her own.

"She's out of her mind," Link muttered shamelessly.

Zelda nodded, "Oh, you haven't heard the stories."

"We got _one_," Link assured without surprise.

"For _your_ tastes," Zelda went on with a droll voice, "That might be all you want to hear."

Link rolled his eyes before turning his attention to Daruk as he wormed his way along the space between the bar and the next table over, not daring to sit atop one of the stools as he simply stood at Zelda's side, catching Mipha's question as he leaned along the top of the wooden bar before him.

"How'd the rock tasting go?"

"Oh, it was superb!" Daruk replied happily, "I'll certainly have to recall Willowdale when I return home. My Brothers will be thrilled to try some of the ore around here!"

He checked himself quickly, scratching his chin noticeably, "Although, we did come across some information as well."

"Really?" Mipha asked curiously as Link leaned forward to peer past her toward the two newcomers.

Zelda sighed, frowning as she stared down the counter toward Revali, "Well, it's probably not pleasant information, but- At least not for Revali. How much did he drink, anyway?"

"Like, half a mug," Link rolled his eyes, "He got the hardest stuff imaginable, though; I think he was trying to prove how tough he was, not how angry of a drunk he is."

"What about you?" Zelda inquired, seemingly basing her question on Link having gotten involved in the brawl as well.

He shrugged, "Just a little bit. I'm a knight; I can't drink the bar closed. Now thanks to _these_ two."

Pointing two thumbs to either side of him, Link frowned with dismay while Urbosa began to chuckle, leaned over him as she mused toward Zelda, "_I'm_ the fun one, remember..?"

"And _this_ one," Link turned toward Mipha, "_Just_ had her first drink, and she's already challenging me to competitions."

"Whoa!" Daruk marveled, reaching over to high-five the Zora, "Well done, Mipha!"

She smiled weakly, full of nerves at being so recognized, before placidly returning the gesture with a gently slap atop Daruk's hand, "I was just having some fun. I didn't know he had a secret weapon…"

Link lowered his head to hide a smirk, leaving Zelda suspicious as she watched him through narrow eyes, just as Urbosa took his shoulder, whining, "Just tell meeee already!"

"Goddess!" Link seethed, trying to pull away, "That hurt!"

She only laughed, almost in a wholly unnatural giggle, as she relinquished her grasp, "You'll spill the beans once you get drunk enough, boy. C'mon, another drink!"

Link sighed as he rolled his head to the side, glancing toward Zelda, "You gonna reel her in, or-?"

The Princess only smirked mischievously, "And ruin her fun?"

Frowning, Link felt Urbosa's grasp upon his shoulder once again as the Gerudo insisted further, "Come ooooon!"

"Revali might have the right idea for once," Link groaned in defeat, simply twisting underneath the Gerudo's clutch.


	62. Brawl

The moon had founds its perch among the stars by the time the Champions exited the bar after last call, herded out the door with the rest of the patrons like cattle before dispersing into fragmentary collections of people heading every which way, leaving the Champions meandering across the road with only a few patrons passing by to give their Princess muttered regards before departing.

Daruk dragged Revali across the dirt part, cradling the Rito's shoulders which were slung around by his gigantic arm, turning his head over his shoulder to watch Urbosa with a laugh as she threw her fists into the air triumphantly, shouting at the drudgering mass of bar-goers.

"Perhaps _next_ time you will best me! Until then-!" she boasted with uneven speech before spinning both hands into rather rude symbolism, "Y'all can suck it!"

Aside from a few dismissive waves and groggy laughs, she was met with little reply, leaving her to swoon around gracelessly back toward her party, nearly stumbling in place as she separated her hands, hoping to steady herself, "Now that the battle is over…"

She turned toward Revali, who had subjected himself to drunken sleep as he hung from Daruk's extended arm, raising an imaginary glass toward him, "We mourn our fallen. The speed of the Goddes- May it accompany you-"

At that, her legs lost all power as she stumbled to the side, leaving Zelda to quickly tear her arms through the air, only barely able to catch the Gerudo without being taken to the ground herself, leaving Link and Mipha to hurry to help her.

"Hehehe," Urbosa giggled, running a hand across her face, "You think koroks are carnivorous?"

Link eyed Zelda with a pithy stare as the Princess groaned, shaking her head as the three attempted to force Urbosa back onto her feet, though they were only met with her own tired assistance, her body growing ever steady toward become mere dead weight in their clutches.

"Good idea, Link," Zelda complained, grunting under Urbosa's weight.

His brow shot forward, "_My_ idea? I didn't tell her to go on some Hyrulean merry-go-round of beverages. Now, look-"

Link examined the situation as Daruk worried approached, his free arm extended as he attempted to navigate his own help toward holding Urbosa on her feet.

"Okay, let's start this over; Daruk's the only one who can carry her. I'll get Revali," Link suggested, more so in command, before Daruk nodded agreement.

"Aye," the Goron nodded, "If it would lessen the debt I owe for her doing the same for me, I would be happy to oblige."

Link nodded before Daruk neared him, sliding the Rito's body along his arm while grasping at Urbosa's shoulder, the transfer coming with shaky movements until their roles were solidified. Daruk carefully pulled Urbosa onto his shoulder, where she hung like a dead animal, leaving her to complain groggily.

"You better not me showing off my bad side," she mumbled, shaking her head which only sent her frazzled hair sauntering back and forth.

"Oh! My apologies!" Daruk spoke quickly before sliding her down into his arms, where she rested as if she were a princess herself.

This only forced her to sputter out zealously, "Trick question. I _have_ no bad sides."

Scratching her hair nervously, Zelda sighed, "Well, she was right about using alcohol to learn about others. I didn't figure we'd learn how vain _she_ can be."

"Speak for yourself," Link complained as he held Revali in his arms, having slid them beneath his shoulders, leaning his head away as though in wretched disgust, "Goddess, his breath stinks."

He looked over his shoulder, "Look, you all get us rooms at the inn so Urbosa can sleep it off. I'll wash this one off."

"You sure?" Mipha asked, a shot of worry in her eyes of leaving her lover.

Nodding, Link began stumbling backward, dragging Revali along the soil as he answered, "Yeah. He'll be offensive enough once he wakes up _without_ smelling like all the liquor in Hyrule."

"Alright, then," Zelda agreed, waving the others along, "We've got you, Urbosa."

The Gerudo giggled, still enraptured by her drunken spell, "Got me what? Presents?"

"Perhaps in a matter of speaking," Daruk chuckled, "Assuming you so desire rest by now."

She complained with a heated breath as she broke beyond earshot of Link, the Company working their way toward the inn while Mipha kept watch over Link from atop her shoulder, her eyes offering guiding light in the form of the shimmering stars above.

Link muttered obscenities under his breath as his arms achingly kept hold of the man within his grasp, his body taking squatting strides as he approached a nearby well, allowing Revali to hit the ground as he released his grasp in relief. He shook his head while his arms were allowed to rest, making out the line of rope that slithered into the earth, lazily sliding its nearby bucket down into the pool of water below.

His eyes came upon Revali's face as the man snoozed deeply, lost in some dream world while Link frowned at having such a task as making this detestable being presentable. Truly a daunting task, indeed, yet Link couldn't help but think of the man's quick moment of gallantry atop Death Mountain, forcing the Hylian to bite his lip, sighing as he slowly continued with his task, wrangling in the whetted bucket with powerful strokes of his arms until the wooden vessel came into his possession.

Link turned his body until he stood over Revali, lifting the bucket and carefully turning it over until a steady stream of water cascaded down onto the Rito's face, Revali's body jolting awake as-

"WHAT IN THE-?!" he sputtered angrily, wildly throwing his arms asunder as he flung his body upright.

Link returned the bucket to its proper angle before shrugging, "You smell like a demon. I'm washing you up."

"Washing me- I-!" Revali seethed, glaring at Link as if he were about to pounce, "If you thought my threat to peck one's eye out to merely be a joke, I would absolutely _love_ to demonstrate-"

Link threw his arms toward Revali, grasping the bucket tightly as the voluminous amount of water splashed into Revali's body like a deluge, leaving the Rito sitting there with a snarl, all while his feathers drooped low, leaving his eyes concealed beneath his plumage.

"Wouldn't hurt to clean up that behavior of yours, either," Link muttered with spite lining his voice.

The Rito stood up slowly, carefully sliding away the feathers that had fallen atop his face, revealing his ghastly sneer as his teeth barred with furious zeal, "I suppose you _would_ know about detestable attitudes, Hylians."

"At least you're admitting to your own," Link shrugged, "I was simply getting you washed up, is all; you ought to thank me for such kindness."

"Pah!" Revali scoffed, throwing a finger toward Link, "I'll have you know, I've gone far, _far_ too long allowing you to speak to a Rito in such a way. All you wretched beings can carry upon yourselves is the disgusting soil of this land; while you were all crawling around in the dirt, we were carrying amongst our feathers the sunlight itself!"

Link rolled his eyes while he returned the bucket to the edge of the well, turning to leave, "Keep preening up your self-image. You're about the only thing alive stupid enough to believe what you spout out."

Before he could take another step toward the inn, a powerful hand took hold of his shoulder, whipping him around, much to Link's surprise, as he came face to face with Revali's devilishly contorted face.

Revali drew a finger, placing it between their faces as his alcohol-lined voice carried with heated breaths, "Don't you _dare_-! You-!"

Link took Revali's wrist, attempted to loosen his grasp, but Revali answered with his own hold atop Link's arms, leaving the two locked as Link demanded, "Let go, you beast!"

"_I'm_ the beast?!" Revali challenged incredulously.

Link sneered, his nose rising in disgust as their tussle died down, leaving him to reply with a heavier tone, "That's how you came into this world, wasn't it? _Like a beast_."

With a sudden burst of anger, Revali threw his arms forward, sending Link stumbling backward, loosing his footing as he hit the ground, rather awestruck by the strength possessed by Revali. He had wrestled with Rito before, but Revali's power had only been concealed by his detestable attitude.

Gritting his teeth angrily, Revali stepped forward as Link quickly rose to his feet, clenching his fists while Revali retorted, "Rather be _born_ like a beast than _live_ like one!"

Link thought about delivering a punch, but Revali's own motion was too swift for his own mind to catch up. Within a second, Revali threw his arms out, taking Link's arms and spinning around, throwing Link rolling toward the ground.

"Living amongst the dirt," Revali spoke almost in sing-song, tilting his head from side to side, "You know, I _never_ trusted you. You, the knight so quiet, yet you can't help but show off every little attribute about yourself. It's sickening, that hypocrisy. At least I _act_ proper."

Link pushed himself up, gritting his teeth, "A proper drunk, perhaps."

"Even so, it feels far too freeing to halt myself now," Revali confided, his head falling toward his shoulder, almost as if he were sizing Link up, "I'd _love_ to punch that face of yours. See the man who's been given everything have something taken from him for once. Not that Sword, not your woman- Something that _matters_ to you, taken."

"I was worried, Hylian, when we first started this journey. Terrified that, for all your deliberately abhorrent behavior, you might show me up. But let's review the notes, you filthy land-dweller; _I_ took you to that desert Beast. _I_ took on the most ferocious of Zora while you lay there like a fat sow. Even at your most hopeless, atop Death Mountain, _I_ was the one who carried you from those lowly depths, allowing you to see what no man, Hylian or Rito, has _ever_ seen."

Revali's lips turned low behind his beak, "All you've done is defile the most kind among us with that wretched body of-"

In a flash, Link's faculties had been done away, perhaps simply be the small amount of alcohol he, himself, had consumed. He lashed out toward Revali, throwing a fist which the Rito skillfully dodged, Revali proving far more formidable, even outside of flight, than Link had ever expected. But the knight didn't care. Not now.

He continued barreling forward, punch after punch, catching enough of Revali's body every few blows to keep him wanting the next. Even the hits that Revali couldn't outmaneuver, his face remained stone-like, unfazed even by the most vicious of blows thrown by Link. As Link quickened into tire, Revali fell to the side in parry, throwing a foot dangerously deep into Link's stomach, sending the Hylian reeling as he keeled over, stumbling backward.

Revali stepped forward deliberately, taking a handful of Link's hair before yanking the Hylian upward, leaving him wide open for a monstrous fist as Revali wound his arm up, slamming his balled hand into Link's cheek, sending Link stumbling backward for only a couple of steps before the world spun around his very eyes, surrendering his balance as he fell, face-first, into the ground.

"LINK!" Mipha cried from behind the two men, having hastily returned, her eyes wide in fright at what she had just seen.

She quickly advanced, desperate to stop the two, or perhaps simply Revali, given Link's paralyzed state, though she slid to a stop, trembling as Revali stepped toward Link's still body.

Link's vision had gone blurry, leaving his hands grasping at dirt as he perilously attempted to work himself into a more defensive position, leaving him only with helplessness as he lie there, wholly at Revali's mercy. His mind knew to twist his body around, to fight back- yet his muscles remained stagnant, unable to hear his pleas.

Mipha covered her mouth as Revali bent low, taking a hold of Link's shoulder. He muttered something to himself as he rolled the Hylian over, onto his back, before grasping both shoulders and lifting Link's body upright under nothing beyond his own Rito strength.

"I'm not gonna lie," Revali spoke lowly, "That felt good."

He pushed Link's body, rather lightly, against a nearby building, allowing Link to support himself without Revali's assistance. He stepped back a pace or two as Link curled up as he stood, his entire gut feeling nauseated by the devastating punch, even as it had been upon his face. Revali examined him for a moment before releasing a sigh, stepping toward him again and pushing Link upright once more.

"Now don't go eating the dirt again, you fool," Revali chided.

Even with his mind still reeling, Link understood his own perplexion as Revali began wiping off his shirt, brushing his feather hand along Link's chest as he cleared the dusty debris from him.

"W-" Link achingly worked past his lips, "W-"

"Why?!" Revali questioned, still with a sneer, "Because I may despise your every breath? as if imparts upon you the sweetest air that you never earned-?"

He paused, pulling his hand away for a moment before continuing, nearly in a scold, "We're Champions, are we not?"

Link's eyes fell in confusion as Revali returned to brushing off the soil from his shirt, complaining under his breath as he did so, "What a stupid question…"

"Thanks…"

Revali eyed him angrily, "Now don't go offering thanks when it's not extended!"

His shoulders slouching, perhaps from his present weakness, Link went on, "Then maybe an apology."

A look of surprise worked its way onto Revali's face as his hands paused, allowing his eyes to stare at Link with increased confusion.

"Sorry," Link offered weakly, "about- about calling you a- a beast."

Revali shrugged with a huff, returning to his task of clearing off Link's clothing, "Yeah, well, for one such as me, such words mean little. I know, more than anybody, who I am, and I am no beast."

Unable to fire back some retort, Link simply hung there, perched as he was along the wall that offered him all the support he had in the world at this moment, feeling its frigid exterior bleeding through his sleeve and along his arm, so picturesue of the chilly air exuded from Revali opposite him.

"But," Revali continued, pausing as though fighting to release the rest of his words, "Thanks anyway, I suppose."

His work done, Revali stepped away, shaking his head, "No reason for Zelda to see her own created garment ruined a week into its existence. I doubt-"

His stance still weak, Link began to slide down the wall, his legs giving way while Revali grumbled in frustration, stepping forward once again to take hold of Link's arms, helping him toward the ground and sitting him there against the tepid wall of that neighboring building.

"By the goddess, have some self-respect, man," Revali complained, "Pull yourself together."

Link dropped his head, "That was some punch…"

Unable to withhold a smirk, Revali glanced away, muttering, "I suppose it was."

The air between the two men grew empty from their silence. Revali's eyes clenched as he studied the horizon, watching the moonlight dancing atop the rolling hills in the distance, not having ever noticed those spry, almost playful, spurts of slopes only seen from the ground.

"Why is she not just anybody?" Link asked, correcting Revali's earlier presumption.

Revali spun his head forward to stare at Link as the soldier's head remained slumped, failing to reply in his incredulity at such a question.

Link took a breath, "You shouldn't care about this journey any more than me, but- I have skin in the game, now. You don't."

"Why should you care?" Link completed, taking a subdued glance up toward Revali.

Scoffing, Revali turned away once again, "Such a stupid-"

"I've had things taken from me," Link spoke up, quietly, in interruption, though Revali didn't offer him an attentive glance, "Things that mattered. My mother and father. My life as a knight. I've lost friends whom I loved like brothers. For a moment, I thought I had lost one person who loves me as I love them."

His eyes narrowed in study as he looked upon the ground, "But I've never had my history taken from me. Even if it turned out my parents didn't love me, I know who they are, and more importantly, why I'm here. why I was brought into this world. and-"

Link took in a breath, hoping to avoid further damage as he pressed on, "I can't imagine having to live, as you do; knowing nothing of your parentage. Not knowing whether you had come about because of some great love, or some partnership toward business, or- some wretched, shameful reason."

Revali's eyes remained transfixed upon the horizon, falling only as he replied, lowly, as if in repayment for Link's revelation, "I once told you of our greatest deity, Witwa, and the battle waged between him and his two siblings. After defeating Vurla, and later Timte- he recognized their true nature; that of two others that so perfectly balanced his being third. So, Witwa resurrected them, their combined souls becoming the very Divine Beast that now protects us. or so our oldest legends tell."

He frowned, "Even though we now know Vah Medoh to be a creation of the Sheikah, such a thing as resurrection- That alone-"

Given the topic, Revali timidly turned his head around to find Mipha having cautiously approached, more out of respect for the scene before her than any fright, leaving Link to confirm quietly, "She knows…"

"Ah," Revali nodded toward Mipha with reverence, "Then you must understand that you've been the beneficiary of something quite extraordinary, particularly to the Rito. Even from birth, we break free from the shackles of our eggs; we break away from that force which binds everything to the earth below us. Tearing ourselves free from death, you can imagine, is a widely reverent idea amongst our culture."

Link nodded, "No wonder Zelda, now, isn't just anybody."

"No," Revali bit at the air, "_Now_ I see."

The air felt weighed down by the heavy conversation coming to a pause. Link felt his body gradually begin to recover from his bout with Revali, allowing him to reach up to his cheek, massaging the welt that had already begun to form.

"Hell of a punch, regardless," he muttered languidly, forming a smirk upon Revali's face as the Rito took to his feet.

"Do not be fooled by this conversation. I still find you utterly detestable," Revali confirmed with a sigh, crossing his arms, "We may both be Champions. That means I will continue to do what I must for the good of the company, even if only for Zelda's benefit."

He cocked his head to the side, "But I will not hesitate to strike you further, should I feel it so necessary."

"Especially given your new taste for such a thing," Link grumbled, hidden as he was behind the tender hand against his face.

Revali's lips spun into a wry sort of grin at the comment before he turned to leave, throwing a dismissive swipe toward Link as he stepped away, "So long as you understand such things."

He nodded toward Mipha before making his way to the nearby inn where she had come from, his gesture offering Mipha a chance to take his spot in front of Link as the Hylian sat there, still working free from his face the searing pain that continued to greet him. She knelt down beside him, taking in a gentle breath as she reached her hand up, covering Link's as best she could, joined as they were against his cheek, until a solemn, golden glow began to radiate from beneath her scales, signaling her healing magic at work.

"He means well, you know," Mipha spoke up.

Link's scoff led into a chuckle, "He has an intriguing way of demonstrating it, then."

Frowning, Mipha sighed as she lowered her head in thought, allowing all the time in the world to work her healing magic into her lover's tender skin.

"Thanks," he spoke up.

She nodded, "I told you. I would allow no harm to come to you."

A boyish glance from Link piqued her interest as he smirked, "I can't help but notice that your promise largely comes about only _after_ I've sustained my injuries."

"Well, we can't _all_ be chosen to do the goddess' bidding," Mipha teased with a grin of her own, "Given my mortality, nebulous as that might be, now- I think I'm abiding by that promise pretty well."

Link mutely chuckled before lowering his hand, allowing his lover to tend to him all the same, feeling that tepid warmth that had arisen from that magical energy swirling atop her still-chilled hand. Such a contrast felt an infinite stream of those hot-cold poultices he had often held against his skin during his training. It was a calming note of sensation, taking him back to those days when his mother would offer him as best of remedies as she could devise.

"He's angry, but-" Mipha spoke with a start before pausing, deli eating whether or not Link needed this information.

He merely sat still, giving her the drive to continue, "He once told me of that language of kindness. It is a language he knows with which he's not so eloquent. The more I think about it-"

Mipha bit her lip, "I think he's always been upset. Not at us, but- toward his own parents. I mean, they disowned him; they weren't there to teach him kindness, or nurturing , or-"

Shrugging, Link interrupted, "My parents' _last_ concern was teaching me to be kind beyond the reaches of the barracks. Such things only lead to false senses of security, after all- I turned out fine."

He watched Mipha give a wary aversion of her eyes, turning her head as Link furrowed his brow, "…right?"

"I mean," she grinned, holding back a laugh, "You _are_ a bit stubborn."

"I'm not stu-"

"That summer you refused to speak to your mother because she refused to let you swim in the basin?" Mipha reminded.

Embarrassed, Link frowned, "I mean- Look, we're not talking about _me_ here."

Smiling sincerely, Mipha nodded, "I know. I just think of the two of you chose to understand one another, you'd both find agreeable parts."

"Zelda's said something similar," Link grumbled, shaking his head with obvious disdain.

Mipha turned her lips into a sad smile, "I think his life has simply been a litany of attempts to get his parents, whomever they may be, to regret leaving him to die- if not literally, than figuratively, given the Rito's culture."

Her eyes fell toward the ground knowingly, "Imagine if he were friends with the owner of the Master Sword?"

"I just threw up a bit in my mouth."

Mipha snickered, rolling her eyes as she retorted, "I'm serious."

"I know you are," Link sighed, "He's just- He's such an ass."

Mipha pulled her hand away, sliding it down past his chin, trailing that glowing light that shimmered in the darkness for mere moments before evaporating into the nether. Link followed her displaced hand with his eyes, missing her touch already, finding a heartfelt reprieve as she reached her face over to give him a tender peck of a kiss.

"You've already done amazing things," she offered with a gloomy smile, her tone of voice lending a gentle light to guide a hint of goodness to her lips, "You will continue to do amazing things. Who knows. Perhaps one of those things will benefit the both of you."

Link's eyes trailed off uncertainly as he shrugged, "Now I _know_ you're giving me too much credit."

Now with a crooked, mischievous grin, Mipha simply gave a gentle nudge with the crown of her forehead, running it along his cheek before returning her eyes to him, "How's it feel?"

"Better," he nodded in appraisal.

"I do good work."

Link turned a pithy glance toward her, "What if your magic does nothing? What if it's merely your presence that helps the pain subside?"

He shrugged, "A man could fight battles, alone, with the right kind of beauty upon the woman he loves, you know."

"Now I've gotten the idea that you've only fallen for a Zora simply because you'll have passed away long before I've gained anything analogous to a wrinkle."

She smirked wry as she pushed herself up to her feet, watching Link shake his head in reply while she reached out her hand to pull him up. He noticed her gesture, taking her hand with a gracious grasp, especially as he immediately sauntered in place as he reached his feet. Mipha simply held him in place, even as he took hold of her shoulders to better orient his balance.

"Nah," he spoke, "Another thing about alcohol, particularly wine- It only becomes better with age. Much like you, I'm sure."

Mipha could only smirk, teasing in reply, "Wouldn't _you_ like to live long enough to find out."

"My life expectancy can only improve by remaining diametrically opposed to that bird," Link uttered sarcastically, "You've heard of piss 'n vinegar keeping people alive past their time."

Rolling her eyes, Mipha shot back, "Now you're simply making excuses."

"You bet I am."

"Just remember," she confirmed, with a bit of darkness to her voice, "He had every opportunity to hurt you further. yet he sat you down and brushed off your shirt. I wouldn't hope to assume, but-"

She caught herself, biting her tongue as she paused, leaving Link alone to watch her nerve-struck face with a faint longing in his eyes. A longing for her to no longer face such doubts about him when it came to that man.

Link took her hand in his, earning her eyes as they met with his own.

"I'll try. Promise."

She smiled weakly, "I never hoped to be the meddlesome type."

"You're not," he assured quickly, "Like he said-"

He took a breath to weight his next words, his lips turning inward as he considered his next thought.

"We're Champions," he finally asserted, much to Mipha's demure happiness, a soft smile appearing in Link's sight, her crimson scales shimmering in the moonlight from the edges of his vision.

She nodded, "Yes. We all are."


	63. The Town the Kingdom Forgot

Rabil's eyes languidly stared out, over the hilly terrain that crossed his vision toward the Tabantha skies, as he huddled against the chilled stone wall of the watchtower, hands clutching his arms as he held his torso tightly, hoping to keep close whatever warmth he could find beneath the thin sheet of a blanket that had been handed down from one lookout to another.

The bitter night air took on a nightmarish property at this height, and while the watchtower might have once been a shield against the stinging breeze, it had grown into disrepair, leaving those unfortunate enough to reside up here with the hellish responsibility of warding off frostbite atop of their other responsibilities.

Rabil peered along the torn walls that surrounded the highest point of the watchtower; at least, what was left of it. The wooden floor he sat upon led up merely to a handful of stone spires now, the rooftop having been completely leveled across the years- a constant reminder of the demons scouring the air. Even if one thought it fantasy, that destroyed tower proved far more than a skeptical mind could hope to dismiss.

These were the outskirts of Hyrule's reach. Far beyond the pristine towers of the castle stood only this decrepit spire of a tower; a reminder of the Castle's waning support of these Hylians who continued to live this far, beyond the ease of access to the Royal Family's supply of able-bodied soldiers, particularly now, during this, to Rabil, worthless search for archaeological works.

Rabil once thought it better for the King to aid his subjects out here, repair the tower, keep his family safe from harm. but as more and more resources went to digsites, Rabil's hopes began to wane, his heart unshielded by hope much as his body remained at the whims of the frigid winds surrounding him.

He was on look-out duty, leaving the skin surrounding his eyes black and blue as he bit back the discomfort of that glacierlike wind breaking against his eyes. As much as he wished to shut his eyes and save his own body, he knew that the lives of his family, and most everyone in the small township, were more important than the whites of his eyes.

Rabil's attention fluttered. A creaking step.

He turned exhaustedly back toward the staircase, finding his friend, Kobah, there, shrouded within a blanket of his own thrown upon his shoulders, though with a curiously hopeful line of steam rising from his torso, the man's hands cupping a small bowl.

"Aye, Rabby," Kobah grinned, a series of limping steps taking him closer to the lookout, "Not bad fer ya first week on the job! How ya holdin' up?"

Rabil shrugged, a feverish shiver appearing within his shawl as he broke his hand through its joined edge at his side, sacrificing that tepid warmth for something of a hearty meal. He reached out his hand as Kobah slowly bent down, his back long since torn by years of menial labor, passing off the bowl with a gentle clamor as its spoon swung around the edge of the wooden vessel.

"Gaah," Kobah groaned painfully as he worked his body to the floor beside Rabil, finding himself seated cross-legged as he finally ejected a sigh of relief, "These old bones're not the best to get up those stairs, ya know."

Merely within his forties, Kobah's decrepit appearance only matched the watchtower's. This township, Dangarnon, hadn't ever been a settlement with which its inhabitants could thrive, after all; generations of Hylians, after all, had been potted with the same luck, rotten to the core, all but forced to grow old in this place, constantly fearing for their lives, if not for terrible harvests.

"Ya likin' it?" Kobah asked, keeping watch while Rabil slowly buried his face above the bowl, taking its seeping warmth against his face while eating.

The young man grumbled, "'s that a trick question?"

"Not so, boy!" Kobah chuckled, "I rem'ber when I first got lookout duty. Gah, was I excited."

Rabil's eyes peered toward him, "So you enjoyed it, what, five minutes?"

The old man cackled mutely, "Pretty much. Found out in a second how much of a hell it is up 'ere. Even by then, the walls'd come down. The worst nights up 'ere, you can barely think fer your brain slowing to a crawl as yer body freezes."

Rebil lowered his eyes hopelessly, losing whatever enjoyment he might have had from the searing warmth of broth tearing through his body's insides.

"Word's come 'round," Kobah nodded, lowering his tone, "King's thinkin' of ending the diggin' perhaps."

"Fuck the King," Rabil bit back, burying his face into the steamy lines rising toward him once again.

"Oi, language," Kobah reminded, "Yer motha's not gonna be too keen hearin' that, you know."

Cocking his head knowingly, Rabil noted mutely, "Just part of growing up here. You learn to keep your eyes to the sky- You learn to hate that Family- How to grow stupid mushrooms-"

He sneered, "Then you have your sixth birthday."

Kobah chuckled, "Good ta know the cold hasn't gotten yer wit. yet…"

A chilly breath left Kobah as a lull came about, partly due to his allowing Rabil the chance to eat his soupy meal uninhibited while it was still able to warm him up. The middle-aged man simply kept his eyes on the horizon, having already grown accustomed to surrendering his eyes to the gusts of wind that ran like daggers of ice into their eyes.

"How's Lamim?" Rabil mumbled in between slurps.

Kobah cocked a grin, "Over the moon that he got out of this assignment tonight. You didn't have ta do this, you know."

Shrugging, Rabil replied, "His birthday just passed. Figured the least I could do was afford him a single present."

Kobah took a glance toward him, warily, "Well don't be spoilin' him now. He's a teenager- If I don't break 'im in, he's gonna grow up ta be-"

"Me?" Rabil interrupted, a smirk appearing above his bowl.

Rolling his eyes, Kobah muttered grimly, "Of course not. Yer a _fine_ young man, Rabby. Too fine fer what happened to ya…"

With a half shrug, Rabil returned to his meal, "It's nothing."

Kobah's eyes fluttered across the moonlight bouncing across the mountainside that helped border Hyrule Ridge alongside the lands of Tabantha.

"How's Ahie holding up?" he asked with a piteous tone.

Shrugging, Rabil answered, "Despondent. Figured it'd be better I stayed up here tonight."

Breathing a lengthy breath of a sage regretfully beginning to impart wisdom, Kobah gloomily noted, "After everything, I think she might need you the most right now."

Cocking a weak grin, Rabil shook his head, "She just needs time. We both do."

A disquieting howl of air greeted the two as the atmosphere stagnated.

"I knew not to name it," Rabil admitted, shaking his head, "Comes with the territory. You're supposed to just let that pessimism seep in, but-"

He groaned, noting the bitter taste the soup now held, "I thought I loved her because she saw hope, even in this- _fucking_ place. Now-"

Despite being alone with another man, a man whom he could trust, Rabil had the presence of mind to quit speaking before admitting something he might regret. Still, Kobah had the foresight to catch the young man's thoughts, forcing a disheartened swell upon his chest.

"I know it's not easy, boy, but-"

"I don't need your consoling, Kobah," Rabil explained with a sting to his voice, "I just- Being up here will do us _both_ good, Ahie and me."

Kobah frowned, unable to heed his heavy heart with his current responsibility leaving him glued to the horizon, yet he still spoke up with a wary tone, "Do you still-"

"Love her?" Rabil completed, perhaps hoping the interruption might by him some time.

Despite that, enough time passed for Kobah to know.

"I do. _Goddess_, I do," Rabil finally explained, only for his voice to waver, "I just-"

He lowered his head while his shoulder slid along the icy wall of the watchtower, leaving Kobah to blindly reach over to stroke his back in contemplation.

"It's never easy ta lose a child. but the union created, even if its product was taken too soon- You two're all each other has in this world," Kobah explained somberly.

Without reply, Rabil paused his meal. Without taste, and with the steam having all but vanished beneath the chilled air, there was little need to continue eating.

He swung his hand toward Kobah, returning the bowl as he muttered, "Thanks."

"Don't mention it, boy," the older man assured taking the bowl only after Rabil had taken to peering off into the distance himself, allowing Kobah to run a pair of fingers across his face to massage his eyes.

Figuring it best to leave the young man alone to ruminate, Kobah slowly began his meagre movements to push him to his feet, pausing immediately as Rabil spoke up lowly.

"Is it wrong if- I feel like blaming her..?"

Kobah gave a rather heated breath as he fell back into his seated position, immediately swinging a hand to smack Rabil's cheek without the lookout averting his gaze.

"Now listen 'ere, boy; that woman would've given her very _life_ for that child, 'n you're _not_ about to tarnish that level of devotion simply because you're miserable!" Kobah roared.

Rabil's eyes constricted.

"All I want-" he muttered defeatedly, "I just want to blame myself, but- I _can't_. Not in this instance. Not without erasing those moments I've shared with her all these years."

Sighing, Kobah shook his head, "_No_ one's ta blame, boy. That's just-"

He loaded his words with that thought that accompanied every tenant of the town of Dangarnon as surely as the stars stood steadfast amongst the moon's pale light.

"That just life out 'ere," he concluded meagerly.

Rabil only barely nodded in agreement, "Were that so easy to accept after all these years. We've been forgotten even by the goddess herself out here…"

A gnarled pang curled around Kobah's heart, but his wringing chest was brightened, once again, by the young man's wit as he grumbled sarcastically, "I suppose, in a sense, we should be happy to be in this predicament. Those Rito are the only ones who _haven't_ forgotten about us."

"Keh heh," Kobah chuckled as he worked his way back to his feet, allowing his legs to slowly churn themselves away as he stumbled in place, "Just remember- That humor, dry as it is, is why that woman fell for you in the first place. Don't give 'er up for a mere moment in time."

His eyes fixed upon the horizon, Rabil declined to answer further, simply pulling his arms back underneath his blanket as he wrapped it around his curled-up frame, once again praying for warmth to join him. Kobah gave him a final glance before groaning as a result of his aching joints, shakily stepping back toward the staircase that had brought him to this anguished man.

Perhaps in his younger days, Kobah might have believed such time up here, alone, in the watchtower might be worth something of a remedy for a broken heart. But he knew better, now.

For being a harbinger of death, that watchtower only brought despair.

After the loss of a child, Kobah figured- Perhaps that was just what Rabil needed to commune with for a while.

* * *

**_A/N: I know I said I wouldn't bring up too many more original characters, BUT if you'll indulge me, this won't be as lengthy as all the Zora from Part Two, and it'll allow me to draw from a certain genre that is serving for inspiration toward this part of the story, as well as explore the Kingdom of Hyrule in a more interesting, and less-than-perfect lens, yet not wholly unbelievable, given the in-game lore of Breath of the Wild._**

**_Just bear with me as best you can; I understand it's not ideal at all._**


	64. Dangarnon's Legacy

Kobah eyed the distance, quagmirous soil of Ludfo's Bog as he stood along the crossroads of the western plains, scanning the area for signs of the others. Raising his hand to his forehead to shield his vision from the ill-temperate rays of the midday sun, his lips quivered for a moment in worry, having done this a hundred times himself in his old age, wondering what might be taking them.

At his side came a sudden jolt at the end of his shirt, forcing his attention toward Baba, the boy having come alone for his first experience collecting Dargarnon's most precious commodity. Kobah's paternal glance rested upon the child as Baba watched with his jaw lazily dropping the magnificent storm cloud that hovered endlessly over the deeper portions of the bog.

"It's not gunna get 'em, is it?" he asked with a tremble to his voice.

Kobah chuckled, "No, no. That storm never moves. So long as they keep close, they haven't a worry, 'n nor should you."

He eyed the horizon, noticing the sun's departure from its zenith, before continuing dryly, "Although, if they take too much longer, I cannot be certa'n of their safety…"

"I-! I thought you said-!"

Kobah smirked, "Their _safety_ when they return and I beat their hides like a cow's hind-end."

Reaching down to pat Baba's shoulder, the old man nodded, noting with a wry grin, "Take that as a lesson, child. Never worry yer elders."

"Never… worry…" Baba recited in reply, having been taught by his mother that such repetition was beneficial to memory, "yer…"

"_Your_," Kobah verified dryly, "Your mother will have _my_ hide if she finds out yer not speakin' proper because of me."

Baba's brow curled, "There sure are a lotta hides…"

Chuckling in reply, Kobah acknowledged, "Only when we don't act right. If you speak her yer supposed to, and if Lam 'n the others get back soon, there'll be no hides today."

"No… hides…" Baba repeated, earning him a downturned glance from his current guardian.

"Don't repeat that," Kobah instructed coolly before returning his attention toward the bog, "And as if in premonition- Look who it is."

From beyond a sheer incline of hilly terrain came the heads of Kobah's son, Lamim, and two other boys, the lot of them nearly keeled over in exhaustion as they desperately held onto the massive straps of clothen bags that draped over their shoulders and onto their backs, proof of their large success.

Kobah's shoulders dropped with relief as he took Baba's hand, leading the child toward the three teenage boys, the complaining voices of the adolescents carrying closer and closer as they drew near. Kobah gave a quick wave in greeting as the three huffed their way to a pause, dropping their massive sacks from their shoulders with careless abandon, leaving mushrooms scattering out along the grass, leaving Baba open-faced in wonderment.

"There, alright?!" Lam complained with a tired heat in his voice, "We got the mushrooms. Happy?"

Kobah tilted his head in appraisal, muttering in answer, "Well, no. I was hoping such a task would whip the rebellion outta you, but yer attitude-"

Lam eyed his dad with a deadpan expression, leaving Kobah to chuckle, "But, perhaps, that won't be a battle won in a single day. Ica? Kalu? You guys holdin' up?"

"…aye, sir," creaked Ica, the teen's body having fallen onto all fours as he panted breaths back into his body.

Kalu nearly nodded, unable to find a breath at all.

"Well, I'll make a _few_ parents happy today," Kobah smirked, reaching into his pocket to dig around, "I know the first few attempts at harvesting those suckers can be tough, so- Here. I brought some refreshment."

The middle-aged man pulled out a pair of canteens, handing them off toward the boys, though only Lam was the only one able to accept the offer, despite his haggard breathing. He kept one before passing the other off for the other two to share, taking a drink as his father went on.

"Figured I'd bring Baba along to see all the hubbub. Not too many more years, he'll be followin' in all y'all's footsteps," Kobah nodded with nostalgia.

"Hubbub…" Baba recited quietly.

Lam watched the kid with a warning glance, "Put it off as long as you can. This sucks."

"So you say, now," Kobah reminded, "but these mushrooms will create the finest foods you could ever conjure up. Remember mom's mushroom fondue?"

Lam lowered his head with a sigh, admitting, "Yeah… It was good."

"See? Not to mention its monetary value. It's about the only thing we have out here worth buyin'," Kobah shrugged, "And given we had three strappin' boys doing the harvestin' today- We might just make a bit back for the community pot."

Ica warily spoke up, passing the canteen to Kalu after a drink, "Did they have to be such a pain getting out the grou-"

"Dude! Gross!" Kalu shouted, throwing his hands up to push away the canteen, "I don't want your _germs_ all in my mouth!"

Ica glared toward the others in astonishment before grinning widely, shrugging, "More for _me_, then!"

Kobah laughed at their adolescent behavior, sighing in recollection of his own youth, "Ah, you three… You ought ta appreciate the back-breaking labor while you can. Break your back enough times, like me, and yer stuck playing chaperone all the time, eh, Baba?"

"Mommy says you lollygag," Baba admitted obliviously, leaving Lam to eye his father with scrupulous eyes.

"He does, doesn't he..?" the son slowly agreed.

Kobah smiled wide, but irritation clearly showed in his tightly shut eyes, "Nevertheless! All that groaning you three were doin'- You're teenagers! Yer too young for old man grunts and groans!"

Kalu muttered with smarmy reply, "Then when _can_ we start making old man noises? Take me to _that_ age…"

A humourous cackle came from Ica as the teen buried his head low to hide from Kobah's steady glare.

"Ah, yes; nothing like youth to be wasted upon the young," Kobah noted aloud, turning toward Baba, "You won't take it for granted, will ya, string bean?"

Baba vigorously shook his head, "No! I wanna eat anything I want and stay up late!"

Eying his peers, Lam uttered sarcastically, "Yeah, when's _that_ age?"

"Only after that rebellion's been stripped outta you like a breath on a chilled night," Kobah assured with a grin, "The last thing we need're three boys getting in touch with their stupid sides and runnin' off."

"Running off…" Lam muttered languidly, "To where? We're practically chained here…"

Despite his attempts at remaining bright, Kobah's eyed slowly began to sour at those words, leaving him with a reckoning sigh, "Son- One of these days-"

"Oh, yeah; I _love_ the 'one of these days' speech," Lam grumbled in upset, "You say that as if we'll actually leave this place at some point. but nobody born in Dangarnon _ever_ leaves Dangarnon."

Ica muttered distastefully in chorus, "Yeah. My great, great gramps was a founding member, 'n now look at me."

"Well, that's why _I'm_ here to do my best to help raise you all right and proper," Kobah nodded hopefully, "Give ya all the best chance to make the most of yer lives. Be it here or anywhere."

Lam complained, "By breaking our backs..?"

"In some cases, perhaps," Kobah smiled, pointing at the collection of mushrooms that had strewn out across the field, "Now, enough rest. Up 'n at 'em!"

"-at 'em…" Baba noted.

"Goddess, dad; Baba's not gonna know how to speak listening to you."

Kobah frowned, glancing down toward the child with a speculative stare, "I've been trying to watch my words, you know."

"Heh heh," Ica chuckled, turning toward Kalu with a mischievous look, "Word watchin', huh?"

Kalu tried to resist a boyish giggle himself, though he succumbed soon enough, leaving Kobah with a dry stare as he concluded, "Y'all can keep yer inside jokes 'n all, but I assure you, I'm doing the best I can to help you all."

Smattering his hand against his face, Lam explained wearily, "They weren't talking about _you_, dad…"

"Oh?" Kobah spoke up with interest.

Lam frowned, "It's nothing."

"Nothing, eh?" his father mused with deepening excitement, forcing Lam to start waving off his two friends, though their snickering continued as Kobah attempted to put two-and-two together.

"Shut up!" Lam pleaded amongst the three teens, "Just- Get the fuckin' bags 'n-!"

"_Language_," Kobah reminded.

"Fucki-"

He swiftly gave Baba a glance that said everything he needed to speak without doing so.

"I understand, son, don't worry," Kobah muttered hautily, forcing a scrupulous glance upon his son's face as he watched his father hauntingly, knowing his old man well enough to know that such a statement was merely to disarm him.

Sure enough, Kobah went on, "I know you boys are probably busy talking about girls 'n all that-"

"Dad!" Lam shouted, "We've got the bags! We're coming! Just-! Stop!"

Kobah shrugged, "Whatever do you mean? I just explained that it's my duty to impart wisdom unto you all. I know you're all at that age where-"

"Goddess," Lam complained through a groan as he covered his face, "Dad!"

"Yeah…" Ica grumbled, "It's not nearly as fun hearing that stuff from-"

His words, however incomplete, confirmed Kobah's assertion before Ica could catch himself. Lam shook his head in defeat, as the three teens stumbled along behind Kobah as the old man took Baba's hand, leading the small troupe of men back toward the road en route back to Dangarnon.

"You know, you all ought to appreciate the lack of young women in our township," Kobah instructed, "There's nothing worse than a young man looking to prove himself to impress another. Why, given your boys' penchant for wily outings- I'd hate for one of you to hunt down a hinox merely to die looking for a trophy to offer a maiden."

While Lam and Ica drolled along with disgust, Kalu seemed slightly interested, the quieter of the trio muttering in question, "How, uh-"

"How do I know? Because I was a stupid boy, myself!" he confirmed with a wry smirk, "How'd you think I first tore my back up? Lam's mother- her eyes caught some fruit atop one of the massive stalks of mushrooms down in the scablands, so I did my darndest to acquire some to offer her."

He sighed, "You let your hormones do all the thinking. I'd like to think your mother saved my life by being as interested in me as I, she. After that blunder'us ordeal, I needed no further trial to prove my worth. She had seen it all along."

Smiling, Kobah turned toward the boys, "We actually were not married by the time Lam came along, so his birth was rather the impetus for-"

"Dad!" Lam shouted in complaint.

"What?!" Kobah questioned lightly, "You were an adorable little thing; you should be proud of how wittle and cute you were."

A blush shot across Lam's face as he avoiding a snickering glance from Ica, shouting, "Shut up, Ica! And dad! Cut it out!"

"I'm just saying, is all," Kobah smirked, "In fact, if you're all comfortable speaking of women- I'll have you all know, when your mother was younger-"

"Dad!"

Shrugging, Kobah questioned, "So why is it terrible when _I_ share the same things as you all?"

"_Because_-" Lam began, though his attempt at tact quickly came under fire by Ica's interruption.

"You're kinda old, sir."

Scoffing, Kobah began to laugh as Lam took a swipe at his friend.

"Well, you got me there, young man! That thick-headedness will truly be your folly if you're not careful."

Ica turned to Kalu warily, "What's a folly?"

With a swift twist of his hand, Kalu took a smack at the back of Ica's head, sending the latter into a quick moment of upset, "Hey!"

Kobah reached into his pocket as his trembling laughter subsided, shaking his head in relief, "Ah, well; I'm told laughter does keep your heart young."

The cluster of bodies turned after having passed the crossroads, taking themselves off the main dirt path just as Sartori Mountain loomed in front of them, creating a picturesque background that painted itself beyond the shaky architecture of Dangarnon, creating something of an ugly juxtaposition that lined most facets of life out here amongst the Ridge. Kobah strayed a bit as the exhausted trio of teens began up the hilly landscape, just case one of them needed a helping hand- or, whatever helping hand he could possibly hope to muster.

"You still comin' over to help with my weapon wall?" Ica asked toward Lam, who responded with a sidelong glance.

"You know I wouldn't miss it!"

Kobah's eyes narrowed, "You, young man, will need to get to bed as soon as we get back into town.

"What?! Why?"

"Because Rabil took your place in the watchtower last night," the father reminded, "So you take his place tonight."

Lam eyed him with pleading anger, "But dad, I-! _He_ was the one who wanted to switch! not me!"

"And _you_ agreed," Kobah noted, "Without equal exchange amongst our community, everything that's been built here breaks down. You're lucky Rabil is taking shifts _at_ _all_ after what happened to him and Ahie."

Frowning at the prospect of missing out on his friends' activities, Lam grumbled lowly, "Understood…"

"Maaaan," groveled Ica, "I just finished repairing that lance I found, too. I also worked out that hitch in my crossbow, too; it's shoots as straight as a blade of grass now!"

"Yeah, if you could _aim_," came a tease from Kalu, sending a glare from overtop Ica's shoulder as the older of the two sneered.

"I'll remind you that I have the quickest time when it comes to hunting the varmints getting into the stockroom," Ica scolded, all while Kalu smirked in reply, "So you should thank me for your meals, too!"

Kalu scoffed, "Yeah, right. I'll get on that as soon as you learn the difference between a spoon and a fork."

"That was _one_ time!" Ica challenged as the group stepped into the small town, leaving Kobah to interrupt the bickering as they approached a horse-drawn cart that sat waiting for their return, a younger woman standing at the far side of the vehicle, hands clutching the wooden boundary of the cart as her head hung low.

The father spoke up, "Okay, you three; enough of that. Dump the mushrooms and we can call it a day, alright?"

"Couldn't agree more," came a smarmy answer from Lam as the three teens sauntered nearer still to the cart, struggling to lift the sacks of mushrooms high enough to clear the cart's height.

Kobah stepped toward the cart, nodding toward Ahie as he watched her gloomily, her hands still shaking even as they so tightly held the side of the wagon.

"Just _push_!" shouted Ica as Lam struggled to shove the sack overtop the wagon.

"That's what I'm _doing_!"

Finally, as Kalu wormed his way between the two of them, creating an army of three, the sack finally toppled over the wall lining the edge of the wagon, sending mushrooms tumbling aimlessly across the inside, allowing the three teens a brief respite as they noticed the other two sacks still in need of work.

Baba tugged at Kobah's pant leg, staring at the older boy in awe, "Will I ever be that strong?"

Kobah smiled, patting the child's back before crouching down to pull Baba up into his arms, pressed into his shoulder, before returning his attention to the three as he replied, "Keep eating your mushrooms and you'll be just about as strong as anyone. Dangarnon's mushrooms are chock-full of everything a Hylian needs."

He turned toward Ahie with a warm smile, "You've have Ahie's Mushy Mess, right?"

"Yeah!" Baba declared with enthusiasm, earning a soft grin along Arie's downturned face, "It made good paste, too!"

"That, uh-" Kobah suddenly sputtered in reply, his look turning nervous while Ahie peered up toward him knowingly, "Baba, you're not supposed to say stuff like that."

Baba frowned, "I can't _lie_, I can't tell the _truth_… Whadd'ya _want_ from me?!"

His comical air left Ahie agiggle, if only for the briefest of moments, as Kobah returned Baba to the ground, frowning, "Alright, then go ask mom and dad about it, okay? I'm not equipped tah be answerin' _those_ sorts of questions."

Nodding with confused exuberance, Baba spun away, taking off in the direction of the inner plaza of the village, the square-like patch of pock-mocked stone that sat between the circular ring of buildings and the watchtower- all that made up Dangarnon. Kobah sighed as he lifted himself back up ashamedly, frowning in Ahie's direction.

"Sorry about that."

She shook her head, speaking in a chilled voice despite that moment of brilliance a moment earlier, "Don't mention it…"

Kobah lowered his eyes, taking in a breath as he allowed the air to settle, accompanied by the teens' rigorous attempt at dumping the next sack of mushrooms. Carefully, Ahie reached into the cart, slowly separating the mushrooms that had already been thrown asunder, doing her usual task of ensuring the mushrooms most visually appealing were the ones to be sold, leaving the undesirable ones to the side for the villagers to eat themselves.

"How, uh-" Kobah briefly muttered, nervously scratching the back of his head, "How are things? You and Rabil, that is."

Arie's sorrowful frown seemed to magnify, though she still managed with an aching gait to her cadence, "It- I don't-"

She carefully slid the mushroom in her hand back into the wagon, gripping the side of the vehicle once again, as if she were struggling to keep hold of her tears.

Kobah stammered with a rushing voice, "That is, uh- Only if you feel comfortable with-"

"I-" Ahie interrupted, doing her best to muster up a weak, wiry smile, "I still- have my jobs to do. I can't, uh- I can't mourn forever."

She felt a choking mass in her throat.

"Even if I would like to."

Kobah's lips turned low with worry as he reached across the cart, carefully placing a hand upon her shoulder, running a tender thumb along her quivering body, "Look… I've lost many things in my life, but- A child is not one of them. I cannot _begin_ imagine the pain of that; few of us can even come close to understanding. So- Lamim did a solid and helped Rabil with what he needed last night. If you'd like to go home, I can stay and sort these out today."

She gave a weak chuckle, peering off into the distance, "Rabil only needed help getting away from me…"

"Now, I've already spoken to him about that," Kobah noted, solidifying his already known role as an elder of the village, "He knows better. But you are allowed to grieve, as is he, even if it's in ways that don't make sense to-"

A whooping holler broke the air as the boys managed the second load of mushrooms, sending another sizable bunch of soft toadstools stampeding across the length of the cart, leaving Kobah's attention waned as he peered down to see the teens slowly hovering toward the final bag.

"I carried that child for months," Ahie quietly concluded with a shiver, "Her death was-…"

Kobah watched her with a pained expression, unable even to empathize with such a feeling. He turned toward Lam, his son's strapping body in far more motion than Ahie and Rabil's daughter would ever hope to achieve in death. What if his son had died? right now? What would he feel?

It was a thought he couldn't ever believe himself capable of conjuring, even for the sake of experiment.

Ahie shakily reaching into the wagon once again, as though a weight had been lifted for a brief moment as small pockets of tears began to form along her nearly-shut eyes. Kobah lowered his gaze reverently, twisting his lips in dismay over the situation before him. His life-long obsession with mediation tugging at his heart-strings, the thought of being helpless, among a couple so dangerously in need of help-

"-two! THREE!"

With a final, mastodonic shove, the three boys sent the final allotment of mushrooms coursing along the interior of the wagon before their bodies gave way, sending the teens sauntering to the ground to sit, although Ica immediately fell onto his back, simply lying there as he collected his breaths.

"Goddess, that _sucks_!" Lam complained.

Kobah nodded, "It builds muscles as much as it builds character, I'll have you know."

"Lovely," Lam dryly muttered toward Kalu, "The 'character-building' speech, too."

Kalu smirked, reaching over to stroke Lam's arm with a brusque movement, sending Lam immediately leaning away, "Two for two today, buddy."

"Alright, alright," Kobah suddenly warned, reaching down to stop the ensuing scuffle as his eyes remained upward, catching the man approaching the cart, "Motom's comin' over."

At the very utterance of their village elder's name, the two teens put a stop to their arguing, simply recovering from the ordeal as Kobah returned upright, offering his hand as Motom's dragging foot kicked up a trail of dust that followed him wherever he went, only stopping once he came to a halt, smiling as he shook Kobah's hand.

"Aye, sir," Kobah nodded.

Motom grinned, appraising the wagonful of mushrooms with a sparkle in his eye, "Well, goddess bless! These kids must'a gotten a kick outta all those mushrooms!"

"More like a kick to the shoulder," Ica breathed heavily from his prone position.

The elder chuckled merrily, "Ah ha! Good ta see ol' Kobah hasn't worked _all_ that spunk outta y'all just yet. You'll need it for the winter, no doubt, and up until you're _all_ old men, knowing my beloved Dangarnon."

Lam rolled his eyes out of sight from the scruffy mass of hair that nearly covered the whole of Motom's face, the elder stroking his beard with interest as he peered over the horizon, "I just came ta let you all know- Word's come outta Willowdale. Princess Zelda's on the way."

Kobah's eyes narrowed as Kalu spoke up with excitement, "Princess Zelda?!"

"Goddess!" Ica shot next, immediately rising up from the ground.

With a confused look, Kobah asked, "W- Why?"

Motom shrugged, "No clue, although the traveler said she was with a rather eclectic bunch when she entered the inn seeking lodging. A Gerudo, Goron, and a Zora."

Stuffing his hands into his pockets, Motom surmised uncertainly, "I would be foolish to think it's meant to actually appraise our town after many decades of the Kingdom not giving a cucco's backside about it, but- Who knows?"

He looked over the mushrooms, "So, I figured I'd let you know to keep plenty of the best ones in case she'd like a meal. If we're ever to sway opinion, our prized crop will have to be the vehicle to do so!"

Kobah looked away in wary contemplation as Motom stepped closer to the cart, chuckling at the thought of such royal company, thinking aloud, "Ah, yes, Ahie, you'll absolutely have to make up some of that Mush if they decide to-"

He paused, his beard falling noticeably as he caught Ahie's downtrodden state, speaking suddenly, "Goddess, I'm so sorry, my child. I didn't mean ta-"

Ahie immediately shook her head, "No- don't… I'm okay."

Wiping away a stream of tears, she forced a weak smile, "I'll be happy to serve the Princess."

Nodding uncertainly, Motom acknowledged, "Alright- I mean, if you're up for it. I wouldn't want-"

The elder paused, noticing Kobah's discerning eyes, allowing the middle-aged man to ask, "Do we know when they're arriving?"

"As soon as tonight, I'd surmise," Motom shrugged, "The traveling merchant just relayed this to us, and he had a few hours of a head-start. So, I'd like this village to be in tip-top shape! Sashi and her sister can ready some water and firewood. Thopo can get the- Ah! Rabil's gonna be in the tower tonight…"

"Actually," Kobah noted, much to his son's chagrin, "He swapped with Lamim last night. My son'll be in charge of lookout tonight."

Frowning in thought, Motom crossed his arms as he looked down toward the teenage boys, lips hovering between dismay and uncertainty, "Hmm… I'd like nothing to go wrong this evening. If Rabil isn't up there-"

"Lam is more than capable of the task, sir," Kobah assured.

"Still-" Motom sighed, thinking for a moment, "Alright, but I want these other two on rotation. Swap out as you'd like, but I want _two_ of you up there at all times, understood?"

Ica's shoulders fell, "What?!"

"Why us?!" Kalu whined, leading to a swift kick at his back from Kobah.

Motom frowned, "Had I a reason to deprive you _all_ of a royal audience, I'd have all _three_ of you up there at all times for tonight. Be thankful that I've offered you three that much."

The elder sighed, clearly not enthused by having to scold his town's up-and-coming denizens, before patting his chest with low enthusiasm, "And with everything in order, here, I'll have to alert the rest of the village. You all understand?"

A chorus of nods accompanied Kobah's reply, "Yes, sir."

Motom smiled widely, removing his thinly brimmed hat to place atop his chest before giving a polite bow, kicking up dirt as his dead leg dragged alongside him, his movement in jerky motion as he battled the impediment. Kobah watched with uncertainty while the boys chattered amongst themselves.

"Whoa! The _princess_, man!" Ica charged with awe, "They say her hair is like sunlight! Gah! To be in the same _room_ as her!"

Kalu went on a worshipful tangent as well, though Kobah was interrupted by Lam rising to his feet to challenge, "Dad! Why do _I_ have to be in the tower?! Motom _wants_ Rabil up there!"

"Because _that's_ what he ended up deciding," Kobah ordered, sending a jolting glance toward Ahie, "Do _you_ wanna tell Ahie that her husband should spend a second night up there?"

Lam gave short consideration to the thought he hadn't accounted for, still sluggishly carrying his shoulders as he groaned, "No…"

"Good," Kobah nodded, "Like Motom said- Be thankful he's allowing you all turns to meet the Princess. It's been close to fifty years since we've had a royal guest, so you _all_ better be on your best behavior."

He kicked a plume of dust toward the two other boys still boorishly discussing the Princess, earning their attention as they threw their arms through the air to prevent the dust of smothering them.

"That means _no_ staring," Kobah made clear.

"Y- Yes sir!"

"Okay! Okay!"

Groaning to himself, Kobah ran a hand across his face, knowing his simple night indoors had been painfully averted by this new situation he hadn't foreseen. Despite his optimism, he had come to understand that, nights like these- Night where everything was _supposed_ to go right…

His eyes glanced across the tiny plaza in the center of town, watching the decrepit tower rising up like a shambled spire, symbolizing a century of strike, with little help from the Kingdom to show for much of it.

His eyes narrowed with uncertainty.

Nights like these were when the demons came.


	65. Shades of a Queen

"What a wonderful series of clefts!" Daruk admired as the Company walked among the overlooking outcroppings of sheer rock that loomed ominously overtop their path, "If feels as though we're recipients of some form of triumph!"

A poignant tone came from Zelda as she peered up along the jutting faces of rock, "The breach of demise."

"Is that a poem?" Mipha muttered questioningly.

Zelda grinned gloomily, "I suppose it _is_ rather mellifluous for an idea so full of dread. It's actually a rather ironic name. In Hyrule Kingdom's formative years, this was one major avenue wherein interlopers would descend upon the people; therefore, the _breach_ of demise."

"It lost its meaning as the Kingdom grew into its present state, though I suppose, depending on how you look at our history with the Rito-" Zelda paused, allowing Revali a moment to fluff up his plumage, "-it may just mean the opposite. Any Hylians stretching out too far to the west may very well find their demise. Hence the irony."

As certain as night follows day, Revali lifted his head proudly, "Well, the poetry of the Rito _is_ world-renowned; it's no wonder life has chosen to imitate such artistry."

"Keep your feathers close to your chest, bird man," Link muttered, "She's trying to butter you up."

Revali scowled toward the soldier, "I _beg_ your pardon?!"

Before Link could go on, Zelda quickly spoke up with a nervous breath, "Anyway-! If we make good enough time, we'll approach the nearest township by nightfall and ensure decent lodging before roughing it the rest of the way, at least until we reach the Rito Village."

"Ah, yes; you may all bask in the finest linens the Swallow's Roost has to offer," Revali grinned proudly, "I must say, for the first time on this journey, I am quite excited. Not a single Rito has been able to tread upon Vah Medoh, so the idea of doing so-"

His eyed narrowed while curling lips denoted his mischievous intentions, "It is _quite_ intriguing."

"To be honest, in making our way over here, I've been wracking my brain thinking of that," Zelda admitted with a tinge of dismay, "That said, I'll take an impossible feat over another perilous one. Just having caught a glimpse of Vah Rudania- _anything_ to do with Vah Medoh will be far easier to consider."

Revali eyed her skeptically, "You say that, but you haven't a clue what undertaking this feat will require. As I've mentioned before, even our most powerful warriors cannot come close to that Beast. It generates the very winds that have brought Tabantha such prosperity, but even if you hope to circumnavigate the Beast to approach it from above, you must contend with its lasers."

Daruk's wide eyes caught Revali from afar, "I'm sorry, what?"

Smirking, Revali tilted his head in dismissal, "I doubt that will be much of a worry for a man of rock, but certainly for those capable of flight, it certainly the most dangerous aspect of approaching the Beast."

Arms crossed, Zelda lowered her head in thought, "I mean, Vah Naboris had a similar aggression to its defense, yet we rose to its challenge. I'm sure we'll manage here, as well. We might just need to visit the Rito, gain some inspiration, and-"

Frowning, Zelda concluded, "And, I suppose- consider the possibility that we might not all be able to stand atop this Beast…"

"Until we know for certain," Urbosa assured with a smile, tugging on Zelda's arm to bring her closer, "We've no reason to consider such a thing. We'll get up there."

"I just wish-" Zelda paused, sliding Link's notebook from her pocket, reviewing their notes, "We know so much about these Beasts, yet so little. If we could simply crack that code- If we knew how the Sheikah piloted these things-"

Mipha's eyes widened with awe, "You mean, like- Revali could pilot it and collect us at a lower altitude?"

"Revali or some other Rito, yeah," Zelda muttered in reply, "I mean, we have all this information on the other Beasts- We know they're similar. If we could learn how to pilot the others, I'm certain Vah Medoh would operate the same."

Link scoffed, "Ignoring, for a moment, the fact of getting him up there in the first place."

"Yeah…" Zelda sighed uncertainly, "Other than that, though… I haven't a clue."

Urbosa sighed, "Well, as you said, we have little less than a week-long trek through Tabantha itself, so we have plenty of time beneath that Beast to come up with ideas. I'm certain one of us is absolutely chomping at the bit."

Half-shrugging, Revali replied, "As flattered as I am that you would bestow such dogged determination upon me, I'm not nearly as interested in mounting Vah Medoh as you might believe. Clearly, after these centuries of studious examination, there's hardly a thought that anything more than mere chance will allow a Rito to approach that machine. I would much rather be revered for my own hand-crafted works than a chance encounter."

Link rolled his eyes, leaning closer toward Daruk, murmuring, "Here it comes…"

"Though, I cannot _deny_ that such a tale as me flying atop the Divine Beast would be a welcome addition to my life's work," Revali admitted wryly.

Daruk chuckled at Link's preemptive warning, though the soldier simply spoke up toward Zelda in reply, "Are you sure you got a large enough cloak to fit over that ego of his?"

Ready to sputter back some insult, Revali stared at Link with a fierce expression before gradually melting into one of piercing curiosity, his head slowly turning toward Zelda as he questioned, "…what cloak does he speak of?"

Zelda groaned, crossing his arms, "Well, I _was_ hoping to get closer to Dangarnon before telling you, but it seems _Link_, here, was quick to the draw."

"So nothing new, huh?" Urbosa teased, shooting a wink back toward Mipha that forced Link to hide a blush despite the Zora's inquisitive glance.

"Look, while you were all recovering from your drunken reverie, I was doing some investigation back in Willowdale, right?" Zelda recounted with spun lips indicating her indecisiveness, "As it turns out- The people of Dangarnon don't exactly…"

She bit her lip, leaving Revali to complete her sentence for her, "They are woefully inept to bear the experience of a Rito being amongst them. I understand."

Sighing with relief, Zelda dropped her shoulders, "Oh, thank the goddess you understand. That just makes it so much easier. So-"

She dug into her backpack, "Here's your cloak to conceal yourself. I made sure it had a long enough hood to cover your beak as well, so long as you remain hunched over like an old man. I'll just tell them we're escorting my grandfather to Tabantha so that he can watch the pollen flutter by one final time; but you'll have to speak in muttered tones, like 'geeeh' and 'ooohh', like that- sound the part, just so they don't get suspicious. Oh, and maybe walk with a hobble? or not- they might try to touch and guide you along. Maybe just stick with the hunchback thing- But you can't let an inch of your body be exposed, otherwise-"

Her eyes glazed over as they peered upon Revali, "What?"

The Rito had stopped in his tracks, simply standing there as the rest of the Champions continued along to follow Zelda's pace, though with ogling glances of their own. Revali's body didn't shudder, though his plumage glittered in the sunlight as the wind brought to him the only movement upon his body while his eyes had widened like orbs, staring off into space as though his brain had suddenly sputtered itself to sleep, leaving him with little much of an existence in that present moment.

"Wow, you broke him," Link surmised, impressed.

Zelda bit her lip to conceal a frown, trudging over toward the Rito with a furious rebuttal, "I wasn't _trying_ to do so! He said he understood, so-!"

"_WHAT_ in the great blue _YONDER_ would have you believe that I, Revali, of the _RITO_, would _EVER_ submit himself to such _DEPLORABLE_ _DEGREDATION_!" Revali suddenly exploded, sending Zelda tottering backward.

Urbosa shook her head, arms crossed, "I told her. _Take the northern route_. We'll have our collective tuchus frozen off before we get this one to play along."

Eyes like daggers, Revali sputtered with his attention upon Urbosa, "For _once_, I agree with the Gerudo! _Me_?! Impersonate a-! a-!"

His body swung away from the group as he hunched over, clawing at his knees as he began to dry heave, a laryngeal sort of clucking accompanying his every attempt at purifying himself of that idea which had just invaded his body.

"GAAHCK! GAAAHCK!"

Daruk threw his open palms toward him in presentation as he turned pleadingly toward Zelda, "Look! He's perfect at being hunched!"

With a sudden swirl, Revali twisted his body back around, glaring at Daruk with viciousness glassing his eyes, stepping across the dirt path as he furiously closed the gap between the two of them, "Alright, rock man! Bear witness to these talons crushing solid rock!"

"Only if you can survive my 'eight peaks of fury'!" Daruk suddenly challenged, throwing imaginary sleeves up his arms as Link might have done against this foe, though he was quickly halted by Urbosa pressing herself in between the two, pressed into a heated cloister of rock and feather as the two shouted at one another from both sides of her head.

"I will shove a quill so far into that faultline you call a brain that you shudder and die!" Revali barked, only for Daruk to grit his teeth in angered answer.

"Not before your cloaca houses my foot!"

Urbosa strugged between the two mighty bodies clamoring all around her, staring toward Link with a bile in her voice as she shouted, "Well?! A little help?!"

"Why?" Link wondered, sincerely, "I've got rupees on Daruk; my boy's got this."

Before Urbosa could yell any further, Zelda had finally wormed her way into the middle of the fray, shouting at the top of her lungs, "HEY! HEY! HEEEEEY!"

Her inexplicably harrowing tone simmered down the two's tensions for a brief enough moment for them to begin collecting themselves, leaving Revali to quickly step away from Urbosa before smoothing off his mantle as though removing her presence from his very plumage.

"Look," Zelda spoke up with a low tone, throwing her hands toward the earth below as if to signify her laying down the law, "Revali, I understand it's a difficult thing for you to do, alright? That's why I was so _apprehensive_ about letting you know before I went all 'scholar' on you."

The Rito threw a dismissive shoulder back as he spun away, hiding his furious expression as Zelda continued, "The reason I wanted to embark on this journey was to bring all of our people a little bit closer. Sure, the Divine Beasts are important, but- There's so much…_bad_ between us all that- I just want to do some good."

An inaudibly deep breath left Revali's snout as his frown broke its heated zeal.

"I don't think we can do anything tonight, but- If we do all this right, perhaps at some point- Maybe some good can come from this."

She dropped her eyes, "Of course, I understand how stupid that is to say when I can't even do what I'm _supposed_ to. How could I even think of doing things I'm not supposed to? I mean, who am _I_ to try and-"

"Hush," shot out Revali, much to the group's astonishment, especially Zelda, who watched him with wide eyes as her jaw fell.

The Rito spun around, still with a face stained of fury, before shaking his head, stepping toward her with an outstretched arm, "Just- Give me the damned thing, alright?"

Still deflated from her shock, Zelda simply raised her hand where the cloak had been kept, allowing Revali to swipe it from her grasp as he shot a stare toward the others, "And I don't want to hear a _single_ thing about it, understood?!"

Urbosa smirked, "Joke's on you; I haven't even had time to think of any jokes."

A pithy stare greeted before Revali lowered his head, examining the dark cloak in his arms as he seethed, "Such an inane…"

Frowning, his eyes glanced up toward Zelda, painfully shoving words past his lips, "…thanks."

"I should be saying the same to you," Zelda smiled lowly, "If we can just- get through tonight, it won't be any big thing for you, I hope. Just get into the inn, then we're done until tomorrow morning."

Revali's face spun in disgust, "So long as none of the Lowlanders catch a glimpse of me like this…"

As he spoke, Zelda spun toward the rest of the group, declaring with a kingly breath, "As for _you_ all- Mipha, not you. _You_ three-"

She dropped her eyelids into a ferocious stare that spoke threatening words in a language far more silent than her own, "You're not to say a word. Understood?"

Link answered the easiest, simply shrugging as he replied, "As you say, my Princess."

For his part, Daruk took a moment to deflate the still-risen tension from the earlier bout before answering along, "I suppose I can forget him charging toward me."

Urbosa merely gave Zelda something of a suspiciously look, as if in silent appraisal, before tilting to her head to the side, raising her hands, "I suppose it's my own duty to submit to the voice of a Queen."

Suddenly blushing, Zelda turned away, covering her profile as she stammered, "I-! I didn't-!"

"'course you did," Urbosa smirked, winding an arm around Revali's shoulders that forced him to shoot a stare at her, "Why not lead us along from here just so we know for sure."

"…get off me…"

"Might as well try it," Urbosa proposed further, even as Revali attempted to shake her off.

Suddenly feeling the swelling of self-consciousness, Zelda nervously struggled to reply, instead deciding to simply walk along the dirt path without further comment, leaving the Champions to pick up, and let go, as was the case with Urbosa and Revali, before the Company was once again making their meandering way along the road toward Dangarnon.

They eventually came across Ludfo's Bog as they approached the major crossroads of Hyrule Ridge, catching Mipha's attention as she marveled at the sight, having never come this far from her home. She wondered how that viscous composition of the boggy waters might alter her normal swimming patterns, if she could swim in it at all.

"Don't even think about it," Link smirked, bumping a shoulder into her own, mid-stride, "I'd lose my boots were I to step into that bog."

Mipha's eyes widened, "I wasn't-!"

Link only gave her a knowing grin, forcing her to turn away in embarrassment, still curious as to how he had become so good as to catch such a thought from her, though, she supposed, she _had_ been staring.

"Alright," Zelda finally spoke up after distance had brought her relief, "So, from what I know- and, granted, it's not a lot- Dangarnon is kind of a rough little town. They're a bit standoffish, so I would prefer we do our best to avoid incident while there; hence, I mean-"

She pointed a finger over her shoulder before turning her head over her shoulder, eyes wide to find Revali stepping in awkward steps as he was halfway upon pulling the cloak down over his shoulders, the black fabric only impeding his vision now that he strode off the path.

"Gah!" he grumbled angrily as Urbosa gave a snicker before helping him get the entire regalia on, "Not gonna lie. You look good in black."

His beak emerged from the collar, revealing his knowing frown, "_All_ Rito look good in the darkness. Fight in the dark, and save your beauty for the sunlight and the formels."

"Formels?" Link wondered through sarcastically uncertain eyes.

Yanking the cloak down his body until it fell straight down to his feet, Revali jeered, "Formels! The women, you poor sod!"

As though hunting for an example, Revali left Urbosa, much to her perturbance, before throwing a finger toward Mipha, "Certainly you know of them?!"

"Pfft!" Urbosa immediately covered her face as it transformed into a look of utter amusement as Link's face ran red.

Daruk even chuckled boisterously, "He got you there, Brother!"

Still confused by the pitfalls he was continuing to fall into amongst this group, Link merely threw up a shoulder to demonstrate his indifference, though his face still held on to its crimson hue, leaving Mipha, herself, with a heartful smile.

"I'm starting to like finnicky Revali," Urbosa smirked, "I think we've officially gotten to him."

Revali scoffed, "Don't hold your breath."

"Ahem," Zelda suddenly broke out, needlessly clearing her throat to instill order once again, "_As_ I was saying. These are rough and tumble people, so I don't want to incite any offense by anybody speaking out of turn."

Her brow fell worriedly, "I'll admit… The last time we sent a Royal convoy, they weren't greeted to kindly, so- I'm not entirely certain my own presence won't cause a ruckus."

"Ah," Link nodded, "They felt it imprudent to call out the township directly, but I recall that incident. They sent the convoy back, unclaimed, though the driver of the wagon train returned with more than a few welts and bruises, apparently as 'payment'."

"After Akkala, the King wasn't exactly thrilled to incite further rebellion, so given that they seemed more content being independent, he stopped future supply runs. Haven't heard much from 'em ever since."

Zelda sighed achingly, "They were apparently dissatisfied with the lessening supplies being sent, thinking we were weaning them off to be left entirely, so they finally attacked the convoy as a sort of symbolic gesture, though- My father assured me that, while supplies were, indeed, waning, it wasn't simply Dangarnon; our entire Kingdom was undergoing rationing at the time."

Frowning, Urbosa noted, "I suppose sovereignty and dependency aren't simple to balance."

"No," Zelda replied, "But if my presence can mend some old wounds- I would like to do what I can. Perhaps negotiate some friendly terms, see what they need; we haven't even received wellness reports from them."

"Good to know, then, that the final leg of this excursion begins _here_," Daruk surmised with a grin.

Urbosa watched Zelda with dreary eyes, "Child. Now, I know you sounded like a Queen back there, but- Are you sure you're ready for diplomacy? Not _everybody_ listens to your own form of reason. especially those who have grown so indelibly set into their ways."

Link nodded, "These are people who are citizens of Dangarnon even before they're subjects of Hyrule Kingdom."

"Well, I mean- Perhaps I _can't_," she shrugged, "But I at least have to try. Despite our history, these people are still mine to look over and protect. Even if we disagree on _everything_-"

Her lips pursed in deepening thought, "I refuse to let disagreements cloud my ultimate goal. Perhaps they'll agree that, even above being citizens of Dangarnon… They're living beings of Hyrule. and they have as much a role in this world as the rest of us."

Urbosa turned to Daruk, "Told you she sounded like a Queen."

"As if I ever had a doubt!" Daruk exclaimed, laying upon Zelda a tremendous blush.

Lowering her head to hide that blush, Zelda couldn't hold back a soft smile, accepting such praise.

Without magic, she knew it was all she had in this life.


	66. Proving Grounds

"Stiff upper-beak, Revali," Urbosa wryly instructed, patting a powerful hand atop his back.

Unable to catch his reaction, she felt the air surrounding the Champions begin to boil. In anticipation of their arrival, Revali had taken the cloak over his head, hunched over to better obscure his beak, while holding his arms together within the outfit's sleeves, the dragging length of material completing the effect. In this way, he was fully concealed, unless somebody were to contort themselves in some hellish way, however-

"Gah!" he complained, having strode to the left on the path, running into Daruk's swinging arm, "Careful you fool!"

"Hey, don't talk to the princess that way!" Urbosa accused with a smirk.

Unable to see with his head hung low, Revali instantly shuddered, his voice breaking into a stammer, "I-! I-!"

"Urbosa, quit it," Zelda sighed, her voice signaling the discrepancy in her position, "So long as you're playing an elderly man, it wouldn't look out of place for one of us to guide you along, so- Whenever we're walking, make sure he's cared for."

She felt his disdain, "Okay, not _cared_ _for_, but- Watched over, I suppose. The last thing we need is one of the citizenry to lunge over with a helping hand only to find his plumage beneath that cloak."

Patting where his head had been lowered in his hunched position, Zelda asked with a pang of worry in her trembling voice, "You sure you've got this?"

"Pah! As if this would be any difficulty for Revali!" he seethed, almost courageously, while sputtering in the third person.

"Good, 'cause here comes one of them," Mipha noted with apprehension, sending a visible jolt through Revali's body.

Zelda put on a smile as she waved, speaking through tight lips as though she were a ventriloquist, "Just stay cal-"

"Hello there!" came a boisterous voice, an older man stumbling his way down the hill toward the troupe, "Welcome to Dangarnon! We, uh-"

The man paused, eying Revali with confusion, "Are they- Do you need some help?"

"N- No!" Zelda assured quickly, "We've got-"

The man aimed a thumb over his shoulder, "We've got some strapping young men who can-"

Zelda cleared her throat with a guttural tone, speaking with as much authority as she could muster, "That won't be necessary. I have with me some of the finest warriors this world has to offer, and it would upset them to see their responsibilities overtaken from them."

She turned around, nodding toward Link, "Wouldn't it?"

Taking in a sharp breath, Link sighed before grumbling to himself, stepping to Revali's side to hold him up, sending a disgusted shiver down the Rito's body.

"I see," the man smiled, running his fingers nervously through his hair as his eyes wandered off, "My apologies. We do things diff'rently around here, so-"

"Nonsense; there's no need for apology," Zelda replied with a smile of her own, "I'm Zelda, Princess of-"

She offered her hand, the man swiftly accepting with a handshake of his own as he stymied her introduction, "Oh, we're quite aware of you, my lady. I'm Kobah; one of the, I guess, de facto elders of this settlement, even in middle age. It's a small place, so there aren't many elders of any sort, we're you to count, so-"

He pulled his hand away, smiling fondly, "It's just my wife and son, and a few other families."

"I see," Zelda nodded, "I understand the importance of familial ties, myself. I'm currently escorting my grandfather, here, across the countryside to catch the sights and sounds of the Kingdom before he passes."

Kobah's eyes lit up as he zeroed in on Revali, stepping toward him with an open hand, "Grandfather? Well allow me, my liege, to extend my heartiest-"

"Oh no!" Zelda piped up immediately, throwing her hands up in surrender as Lobah paused, turned toward her with afright, "He's, uh-! He's my maternal grandfather- He's not-! He actually hates being treated as anything resembling royalty!"

"Oh!" Kobah replied in apology, "I'm sorry, sir. I'll just-"

He pittered away as Zelda took a deep breath, reassuring him as Urbosa gave a swift elbow into Revali's side, chuckling softly, "We may yet get you through this, old man."

Another fury-laden trembling beneath the cloak.

"I do wish you had given advance notice; we might have been able to better accommodate such a large troupe of travelers," Kobah muttered ashamedly, even as Zelda gave an assuring smile.

"Fret not," she nodded, "We do not mean to impose. Given the encroaching nightfall, however, a simple roof over our heads for the night would be all the welcome we require."

With good humor, Kobah scoffed, allowing a grin to spread across his face as he turned back toward the settlement, "With all due respect, my lady, our local bog mushrooms are, perhaps, the best amenity we have. I doubt you'll make it too far into your rest before being offered some dinner."

"Did-" Daruk spoke up, raising a finger in interjection, "Dinner..?"

Zelda's eyes shifted in worry, having not considered much in the way of interaction beyond getting to a place to stay. Still, their plan had gone about as well as possible, she considered; however, she knew to be prudent when this far ahead of the-

"I would love some!" Daruk roared happily, forcing an open hand to find itself plastered across Urbosa's face.

"Splendid!" Kobah exclaimed, "Those mushrooms are hearty enough to sate even a Goron, I assure you. Not to mention, our most talented hand has been preparing the meal herself. Plus, I would be remiss were I to greet the Princess without my wife and son being able to say the same."

Thinking of her duty, as well as the underlying reason for this visit, Zelda sighed in defeat, bowing her head lowly, "We would be honored to partake in a meal."

She could feel the hair at the back of her neck raise as Revali's disdain reverberated across the breaths of air separating the two.

"That would make Motom quite delighted. He's the oldest among us, that is to say- Our _true_ village elder," Kobah nodded, waving the Company along as he turned up the hill, leaving Zelda to hurry up to his side as he worked the arthritis through his knees, "And speaking of names, my son is Lamim- he's a real firecracker of a young man, if you catch my meaning. Very quick to act, with all the smarts to keep such an attribute from becoming a detriment."

He nervously tangled his fingers in his hair as he muttered along, "At least, sometimes. He's still a tad impulsive, but he's a mere teenager, so I'm doing my best to rear him properly. After my family, there's Tumon's ilk; his son, Ica, is best friends with _my_ son; the third of those boys is Kalu, whom is from Ecik's family."

Nodding along in recollection, as though these fragments of memory were working their way ever deeper into his mind, Kobah took a moment to press on, "Our chef for this evening, Ahie- she's the last of her family, but she's been married to Rabil, so I often just assimilate the two into the same family. They've been trying to start a family of their own, but-"

He cleared his throat, realizing he'd gone too far, before meandering his way to a satisfactory conclusion, "That is, to say- There are a couple other players, but those would be the most notable of our families here. The Nangah family's line probably precedes the very founding of this settlement, and Dossi's brood are tireless workers; they're some to be quite proud of out here when the going gets rough."

Zelda smiled, "I get the feeling you could talk of the people of Dangarnon even further than you already have."

"Well, I mean-" Kobah chuckled, still scratching his head, now in embarrassment, "I grew up believing I was nothing more than my place of birth. Then I met my wife, and we had a son- That day changed my life in many more ways than any of the broken bones in my body. At least with a broken leg, you may have to learn to walk again, differently than you used to- After my son arrived, it, uh-"

A mournful smile crossed his face, "You know. Everything about your life just changes. Dangarnon is just a place- a rather tumultuous place, at that. but my son is- That's my _child_. Why would I want for him the same troubling life that _I've_ had to endure?"

He chuckled, raising his shoulders in a shrug, "I suppose that does, uh- make Dangarnon sound rather undesirable. I don't mean to sound ungrateful or anything; we're about as tight-knit of a small community as you'll find."

"No, you didn't sound ungrateful at all," Zelda smiled, "Despite my age, I'm not blind to the unwieldy relationship between the Kingdom and Dangarnon. I know it's been hard enough being so far removed from the Castle, yet seemingly forgotten and given little in the way of help."

She smiled weakly, as if knowing it to be her own responsibility to make amends, "While this trip was meant to simply be a brief one- I would very much like to at least attempt something in the way of improved relations. I fear my father, and his ancestors, might have forgotten that those blips on our map aren't simply tokens- they're people, like you, and those of whom you speak so highly of."

Kobah smiled, "I mean- Such sentiments will make quite a lot of my neighbors quite happy to hear. so long as they can put aside their pride for a moment. There are a few who enjoy the tepid sovereignty we have more or less constructed around us; they see it as a symbol of our resilience in the face of our own Kingdom's might being sent elsewhere. In many ways, out here, so far out along the Ridge, Dangarnon _is_ Hyrule Kingdom in many respects."

"I can't say I don't understand such a sentiment," Zelda sighed, coming to terms with the idea of this prospect of mending fences not being as simple as she might have expected, "But if I could at least set a foundation, hopefully soon enough, it will be a stable sort of place for your son to come into his own."

Kobah chuckled, smoothing out his thin beard as his fingers stroked his chin, "You know, of all the Kingdom's messengers and soldiers who've ever come this far- Patience was never a defining attribute."

"Well," Zelda replied, allowing a wry sort of smile, "I'd like to think I'm more of a mediator than anything else, even if some of my cohorts might think otherwise."

Urbosa nodded, patting Revali's back, "Your grandfather, for one, possibly."

Zelda bit her teeth, though Kobah only laughed in reply, crossing his arms as the group began to step into the small village of Dangarnon. All the 'town' was, beyond its miniscule town square which amounted to very little, was a collection of ramshackle boroughs, having all been seemingly worn down to very little in the previous decades. Zelda's brow fell regretfully at the state of this place; even the mighty watchtower had grown into such disrepair that such a moniker as 'mighty' had long failed to apply to the building.

"Welcome to Dangarnon," Kobah smiled as best he could, "I suppose, unless you wanted to take a look around, we could head over to Rabil's home; it's already getting- Hey!"

The Champions' intrigue piqued as Kobah groaned, stepping off toward the edge of the township as a group of bodies run along the cobblestone square, hidden as they were by the encroaching darkness. The middle-aged man's voice immediately caught them in a petrified state, however, leaving Kobah to frown as he took the two boys by the shoulders.

"Dad!" Lam spoke up in a fright, "We were just-!"

Kobah frowned, "Just not in the tower, looks like."

"Kalu 'n I were just- By the goddess!" Lam exclaimed, peering over his father's shoulder, "Is that her?!"

His father growled with low dismay at his son's flighty train of thought, leaving Kobah to pull his son closer, "If I let you meet her, now, do you _promise_ to stay up in that tower until morning?"

"Y- Yeah, of course!" Lam rushed to reply, scurrying about in his fathers clutches, "She's really a member of royalty?"

At his son's insistence, given his promise, Kobah allowed the two boys to leave his grasp, sighing in answer as he turned about with a grave motion, muttering, "Yes, about as close as one can be. Now, you two behave yourselves, alright? I don't want-"

"Woah!" Kalu suddenly spoke up, his excitement betraying his natural introversion, "and _that's_ a Goron?"

Kobah bit his lip, understanding, right then, just how distant these children were from much of anything beyond Dangarnon. The father nodded in agreeable regret, hiding his dismay at his son's birthright of having to grow up here.

"Yes," was all he could muster.

Thankfully, Daruk was quick to carry the mantle, throwing his arms up in flexation, "Bwah HA! Now that is what I'm talking about! How about I swing you around so you can experience _true_ Goron might, eh?!"

"No, thank you," Kobah sighed, concealing his displeasure at this entire meeting, "These two were _just_ getting to their assignments this evening… If you don't mind, my lady, their insistence; they've never met one of royalty before."

Despite Zelda's presence, Kalu was far more intrigued by the other races amongst her Company, particularly Daruk, yet he still found hasty moments of greeting when it came to Mipha and Urbosa, the latter of which was quick to shoo him once he strayed dangerously close to Revali.

"Now, watch it," she frowned, her open hand fluttering toward Kalu, "Papa Bosphoramus does _not_ like to be handled."

Kalu's eyes narrowed at Urbosa's hold of the hunched man's frame, leaving Urbosa to continue with feigned certainty, "Unless he knows you. Then you can smack him around all you-"

A vicious blow struck Urbosa's side as Revali grit his teeth.

"W- Wow," Lam muttered in awe, holding out a hand for Zelda to accept in a handshake, "I, uh- I never thought I'd meet a member of the Royal Family before."

Zelda smiled contentedly, shaking his hand, "Well, hopefully, once I return to the Castle, there will be more opportunities for you all to meet with us."

"Alright, that's enough, boys," Kobah chided, pulling Lam away while Kalu noticeably stepped away in tandem, "Motom'll be upset to know you spent so much time out here, so you'd best get a move on, alright? Once dinner's been prepared, I'll come and get Ica for his meeting, so you two have no excuses for leaving your post, got it?"

"Yeah, yeah," Lam complained with the vocal breath of a teenager, "You can let me go- I'm not a kid, dad!"

Kobah's brow raised with intrigue, "Leaving your post during an assignment? Is _that_ was adults do these days?"

Kalu tried to hide a snicker at his friend's being berated, leaving Lam to pull away toward the tower with his head hung low, having once again felt the sting of his father's critiquing words.

"Now, get along, you two," Kobah repeated, "I'll make sure you get your dinner."

The two boys sauntered off, Kalu taking a teasing swipe at Lam once the two faded far enough away for their words to vanish before reaching the others. Kobah ran a hand across his face as he returned his hosting attention back toward Zelda and her accompaniment.

"My apologies," he sighed, "Of _course_ it's during your visit that things go wrong."

Zelda smiled, bowing her head in understanding, "It's quite alright. I'm just happy to have seen how excited they were to see us."

Kobah grinned lightly in reply, though his face quickly fell once Link's voice broke his focus upon his royal guest, "What assignment are a few teenagers on?"

His eyes glazed over in thought, Kobah considered what to say, having already thought of a few rebuttals before their arrival, simply answering with, "It's become tradition by this point. We haven't been victim of any Rito incursions in quite some time, but- It helps the young ones build character."

Link nodded in understanding, "I see. Good to toughen them up."

"Yes," Kobah agreed, his mind now locked upon that possibility of any number of moments on this night when a possible encounter could arise.

"Anyway," the man nodded, thankful for an out, "Allow me to lead you to Rabil's home. Dinner should be ready soon."

Daruk happily smiled, raising his hands with wiggling fingers as he anticipated the menu, "Oh! Well that does sound delightful! I would hate to keep you from continuing to be a wonderful host!"

"Hehe," Kobah chuckled, "Your rocky body betrays how soft your heart is, my good man. Please, allow me."

* * *

"Dude! Dudedude!" Lam yelled with elation as he sprinted up the final steps of the watchtower, catching Ica's porous attention as the portly teen shot a surprised glance toward the encroaching friend.

"What?!" Ica shot back, "You got 'em, right?!"

Sliding to a stop along the coarse wood of the tower floor, Lam suddenly recalled his and Kalu's reason for leaving in the first place, turning his head down to his pockets before stopping himself, "No! I mean, we get 'em, but I can't get 'em for you."

"What?!" Ica repeated, turning to Kalu, "He didn't eat any of them, did he?!"

Lam groaned, "No; I'm _not_ that stupid. Look-"

He reached out his right hand, which Ica glared at with disinterest, turning his eyes back up toward Lam's face, "Those pellets weren't invisible, dumbass."

"Just- Shut up!" Lam fired back, waving his hand in place, "Look! Notice anything?!"

Ica rolled his eyes, "Yeah, that you _didn't_-!"

"We met the Princess!" Lam interjected with excitement.

With the quickness of a octorok, Ica's expression flung itself from frustration to astonishment, "_Get_. _out_."

"Look!" Lam insisted once again, "She shook my hand!"

Ica's jaw dropped as he stood up to appraise the skin upon his friend's hand, "Dude… Why didn't you say so?! We oughta be worshipping your hand; don't you _dare_ pull out any of that ammunition! I'll-"

His eyes narrowed with suspicion, "She wasn't… you know…"

Lam's eyes glistened, "She was the prettiest person I've ever seen."

"Like you've seen _anybody_ out here…" Kalu complained.

"Oh, hush; it's the thought that counts," Lam explained, returning his attention to Ica wholly enamored by his palm, "Like, I can't wash my hand ever again, right?"

Ica watched him, stunned, "Why would you even think that?!"

"I didn't! I just wasn't sure," Lam replied with deepening uncertainty, "But, I mean, I've gotta help you two keep watch 'n all."

"Pfft, screw that," Ica interceded, quickly reaching for Lam's pocket, shoving his hand inside to retrieve the bullets he and Kalu had gone to procure, "You're a _god_, man! I'd bow if it weren't so creepy!"

Now a bit addled by his friend's reverence, Lam chuckled nervously, "I mean, it's not _that_ big of a deal…"

Ica turned his attention to Kalu, "She _was_ pretty, right?"

Lacking much of any amusement, Kalu stood still for a moment before finally nodding his head, "I suppose so, yes."

"HA!" Ica shouted, "_That's_ the test! She _must_ be gorgeous if even _he_ thinks so!"

Lam rolled his eyes as Ica pulled away, dumping the small cache of stone pellets into a small box he had brought with him, "When do I get to meet her?!"

"Dad said whenever dinner's ready, he'll come trade you out," Lam explained simply, "Kalu 'n I are outta chances, though."

Ica gleefully leapt in place, "Dude! I get to see the _Princess_! That's endless eons of those Kingdom dogs finding only the most beautiful of Hylian women all condensed into one person! That's, like, adaptation to the extreme!"

Kalu grumbled in retort, "_Evolution_, you dolt. And seriously, if you do anything weird down there, I'll make sure Kobah ain't the only one smacking you around."

Rolling his head along his shoulders, Ica replied sarcastically, "Oh yeah, like I'd do something _stupid_."

"I'm serious," Kalu warned further, "She seems legitimately invested in our village."

"Yeah, yeah; that's what they always say," Ica answered in a droll enough fashion, turning back toward the wide-open segment of tower wall that had been destroyed, leaving a wholly open window overlooking the wide expanse of Hyrule Ridge leading toward Tabantha, "Kobah said it himself. We're in charge of our own destinies; if we want to leave this place, we have to strike when we can."

Kalu rolled his eyes, softly hitting a fist against Lam's arm to gain his attention, "You know it's bad when he starts waxing poetic…"

"Oh, shut up," Ica frowned for a moment, his thoughts only raising his lips back up into a smirk as he proclaimed, "Just _watch_. If any Rito decides to even take a _scenic_ flight near enough, I'll show the Princess just how much of a catch I am- by catching a Rito of my own!"

Lam grumbled, "That's _literally_ the worst idea."

"Yeah, only 'cause you weren't the one who thought to bring the proper equipment," Ica smirked, patting the crudely made bow he had strapped around his shoulder, "Marksmen are sexy, right?"

Lam threw his arms up in uncertainty, "How would _we_ know?!"

Frustrated with the sudden impediment in his thinking, Ica simply turned back toward the Tabantha plains before him, patting the bow as it strode down along his side.

"Guess we'll just have to find out when the Princess leaps into my arms after I bag one of those demons," he spoke with an impetuous spirit.

Kalu leaned closer to Lam, whispering, "He couldn't hit a tree with that thing…"

"I heard that!"


	67. Casus Belli

The Champions filed neatly into the small hovel of a home that made up Rabil and Ahie's flimsy abode, leaving Zelda with a crooked brow, horrified to find the squalor that had been left to these hard-working people this far amongst the outreaches of the Kingdom. She stepped carefully into the one-room shack, where only a few accouchements had been sat out. Besides the small area near the fireplace, where a rather decent kitchen setup had been erected, there was little else beyond the two tables that must have been moved in here and slid against one another for room.

Kobah remained silent as he left her Company near the entryway, shuffling deeper into the small home nearing another man, who had already been sitting at the head of the table, leaving Kobah to lean over in order to speak into the man's ear.

Zelda's eyes took wary glances along the landscape, not even finding a bed beyond a small bassinet that stood in the corner, having clearly been constructed from other structures of wood, evidenced by its entirely disorganized pattern of woodworking.

"Still hungry?" Urbosa muttered pithly, speaking in a whisper to Daruk as they shared the same experience as Zelda, leaving Daruk frowning lowly in regret.

Kobah stood up, nodding attentively toward the woman in the corner, tending to the various pots and pans sitting along the top of the fireplace, before turning his attention back toward Zelda, "Please, come on in and take a seat! I apologize for the delay."

"No need," Zelda assured warily, "We're the guests, after all. Thank you, both, for having us."

The man at the head of the table didn't reply. His head remained low, seemingly staring only at the silverware sat out atop the table before him.

With his disinterest, Ahie took the initiative, wiping her hand feverishly against her apron as she stammered, "I- It's nothing, I assure you… Thank you for finding us worthy of your audience."

She took a temperate step toward the Company before bowing her head, "I'm Ahie. This is my husband- uh, Rabil."

Her hand had shifted toward him in presentation, though the man remained silent, failing to move at all at his name being spoken aloud.

"Well, it's an honor to meet the two of you," Zelda smiled, turning to Urbosa, "Uh, if you don't mind, my grandfather probably needs a seat."

Speaking lowly, turning her head to conceal her voice, Urbosa complained, "He's gonna need something _else_ if this goes on too long."

Sighing, Zelda took a moment to lower her head, reconsidering this entire series of events with a wrinkled forehead, only recovering as Mipha gentle patted her shoulders while passing her to join the others at the table.

"It'll be okay," the Zora assured, giving Zelda a reason to smile, however weakly.

Link followed suit, elbowing her arm in a placid motion as he followed along, leaving Zelda and Daruk last to find their spots along the table. Kobah took a deep breath, relieved by something Zelda couldn't exactly put her finger on, before turning back to Ahie once she returned her attention back to dinner.

"If you'd like, I can-"

"It's nothing to worry about," Ahie interrupted coldly, "I can handle the preparations. We're still waiting for Motom, after all."

Nodding, Kobah agreed, turning back toward the Princess to remind her, "Our town elder, of course."

"Absolutely! It would be to my displeasure not to have him present for dinner," Zelda answered, not entirely certain where her verbose language had been hidden all these years.

Daruk had been carefully turning his body from side to side, having forgone a chair entirely, examining the decrepit room surrounding them before leaning closer toward Link, whispering.

"That bassinet is empty…"

Link shut his eyes, "Then don't bring it up."

The Goron's eyes peered across the room in a jolting motion, "But… This place is kind of…creepy?"

"We're not here to do anything beyond getting through this meal," Link noted plainly, "This is Zelda's mission, not ours. We're here to support and keep that bird under wraps."

Link eyed Mipha, sitting across from him, as she took a quiet moment to examine the ramshackle home herself, her shoulders closing in toward her chest as she grew as uncomfortable as Daruk had been.

For her part, Zelda hadn't a clue what to say, herself. These were obviously conditions of squalor, but there weren't any preclusions that such a state wasn't entirely normal for these people of Dangarnon. Should she extend her sympathies? or would that merely offend them? Perhaps they were entirely aware of how awful these conditions were, and Zelda not speaking to them only made her appear blind to their plight? Some of what Kobah mentioned seemed to hint toward the latter, but his silent muttering to Rabil, not to mention the man's silence, seemed to place him in stark contrast to the underlyingly hopeful man whom had brought them all into town.

Lost as she was in her thoughts, her fixation was broken as Urbosa spoke up, her body turned toward the head of the table as she addressed Ahie, "It certainly smells good, whatever you're whipping up over there. Kobah mentioned the local delicacy- said you were the best at working mushrooms."

Zelda wondered if that wasn't Urbosa simply instructing her.

Ahie allowed a brief smile to cross her face, "W- Well, I wouldn't go so far as to say that, but- I've spent- _Most of us_ have spent our entire lives working with the mushrooms from the bog, so- it's more or less second nature."

"We obviously don't have much in the way of mushrooms out in the desert. We have some zapshrooms in the Highlands, but those are a pain in the ass to get," Urbosa explained with a shrug.

Kobah chuckled, "These aren't all that easy to acquire, either. They grow in the ground like any other mushroom, but the bog's murky waters do a number to solidify them in place, all but gluing them to the ground. It takes quite a lot of strength, not only to pick one, but if you're hoping to feed a village, you'll need more than that. What we'll be having tonight, in fact, was harvested just earlier today by Lam, Kalu, and Ica- two of them you met outside."

"Ah, the youngsters," Urbosa nodded with a glint of recollection dipping into her eyes, "Perhaps when we're finished with our little pilgrimage, I could try my hand at harvesting."

With a wistful grin, Kobah nodded in agreement, "I would very much enjoy watching a Gerudo such as you try her hand at it. I've always fancied myself up to the task, but-"

He ran a finger down the side of his thigh, "Tore up this bone, here. Screwed up both my wrists and elbows. Of course, you're little less than twice my own size, so-"

Chuckling at the thought, he suddenly released an empty sigh, "I could use some perspective, though, I suppose; even at _my_ age."

Kobah pointed a thumb toward Rabil, "He'd have to show you, though; he's made it much farther than I did, fightin' those buggers."

Urbosa's attention having turned toward Rabil, the stoic-laced man slowly dropped his head toward the table, a fingernail absent-minded in its stroking at the wooden surface.

"There's a finesse to it."

Rolling her eyes with exasperation, Urbosa mused, "Ah, of _course_. I'm many things, but graceful hasn't ever been one of them."

"You gotta be smart out here," Rabil muttered quietly, "You won't get far if yer only lookin' out for your own self interests."

Zelda's discomfort grew palpable, rumbling in her gut as she sat there with a silence exuding upon the others with how uncharacteristic it was.

It must have reverberated across the air against Kobah himself, the older man wrinkling his forehead with apprehension while he spoke up, "Y'know, Ahie, that all smells wonderful. Is it ready, perhaps?"

She eyed him in wondering incredulity, "It's been ready, but- Motom isn't-"

"If, eh, you wouldn't mind," Kobah nervously chuckled, "I think our guests are hungry enough. He'll understand."

Ahie watched the middle-aged man with a quizzical look on her face, taking only a moment to do so before returning to the pots-worth of mushrooms that had all been done up a variety of ways, "Uh- Alright, then…"

Her brow curled in thought as her eyes stretched to the edge of her vision, wondering about Kobah's insistence, though she only bit her tongue, doing only as suggested. She went about her preparation, with something of a rush, now that the thought of leaving the Princess hungry had been left at the top of her mind.

"Splendid!" Daruk spoke up with a smile, "It _does_ smell wonderful, I must say, as well!"

Ahie shook her head, still aquiver at the thought of somehow mishandling the time to present the food, "I- It's nothing, really…"

Sensing her stress, Kobah only gave a lighthearted reply in her stead, "She's quite humble, as you've seen. But, please, tell me-"

He leaned casually against the table, resting an arm across its breadth, "I'm interested, seeing how this Gerudo here would like to return- Perhaps some of all your people's foods might be a nice change of pace, if any of you had the inclination to visit again in the future."

Chuckling knowingly, under his breath, Kobah went on, "Most of us are quite wary of outsiders in general, particularly those of other races. The Rito across the chasm don't offer much in the way of goodwill, I must say, so I would greatly enjoy our 'youngsters', as you said, experiencing more of the world."

"I'd hate for those beasts to be a mark against everyone beyond Hylians," Kobah sighed, longingly.

The Champions collectively turned their eyes onto one another, forcing themselves not to aim their stares toward Revali all at once, lest they attract attention, yet this left Mipha to reply, alone, as she assured graciously, "Absolutely. You've shown us plenty of good will. I would be honored to extend much the same once our journey is over."

Kobah smiled, "That would be much appreciated. I would very much like our younger ones the chance at-"

He paused, glancing at Rabil, whose head warily fell closer toward his chest, though Kobah felt the point needed to be loosed, "Life here is... a challenge, often times. If they can become more worldly, I- I feel they might have a better shot at- That is to say-"

Mipha smiled, "No need, sir. I understand. As I said, it would be an honor to do so."

Ahie carefully brought over a large pot of stewed mushrooms, sending it aloft before dropping it down onto the table with a nervous gait, warily rubbing her hands along her apron as she returned to the stovetop along the fireplace.

"I could even bring a few of our more scholarly Zora, in fact," Mipha noted simply, "Perhaps they might be able to enlighten them as well."

Kobah's face brightened, "You- How could that happen?"

Smiling politely, Mipha couldn't help a bashful reply, "To be sure, I am royalty, myself, so such an advantageous meeting of peoples wouldn't be much of an obstacle."

Rabil's eyes wandered up toward her.

"I- Wow, that would be wonderful," Kobah noted as Ahie brought over another pot of mushroom-based fare.

Mipha nodded in reply, hoping such an extension of good faith might encourage more cooperation along the Rito's front as well, "Daruk, here, isn't much a slouch when it comes to his own social standing, as well. Perhaps we might could bring a host of individuals to instruct your younger ones and better prepare them for-"

Rabil's nostrils suddenly spewed out a breath of hot air as he raised a fist, slamming it into the table with a blistering *_SLAM_* that echoed throughout the tiny shack, sending Ahie's arms to trembling as she leapt in place, nearly dropping the next pan of food in her suddenly need for flight. The Champions all locked eyes upon the man's fist, shaking violently even as it remained plastered atop the table- even Revali couldn't help but risk a curious glance from underneath his cowl.

"Rabil…" Kobah spoke up quietly, "Don't-"

"Shut up," the younger man muttered with a quaking tone, "I've held my tongue _far_ too long, listening to you make merry with these _wretched_ people, trying to negotiate a future for those boys when I-!"

He paused for a moment, as if the weight of the world had violently fallen atop his shoulders. For all his anger at Kobah, it was restlessly eclipsed in a gradual moment as Rabil glared at Zelda from the opposite end of the table. He clutched the table's edge, pushing himself slowly to his feet while Kobah swiftly took a hand to the man's wrist, attempting to keep him in place.

The older man pleaded quietly, "Rabil, don't-"

"_What_ brings you here?" Rabil asked, a rage lurking deep in his voice, his haunting voice echoing as though his words were attempting to bait the Princess into a trap, "If you come here to make amends, you're far, _far_ too late. You all come here, think you can be welcomed simply by virtue of your status- Were it _my_ place to decide, none of you would have found anything more than the cold outdoor air to greet you upon your arrival."

Kobah's grip tightened.

"You'll win us over with decadence. Try to ingratiate yourselves amongst the younger among us," Rabil accused coldly before pointing a shaking finger toward the tiny bassinet in the corner of the single-roomed home, "Where was your thought and care for _him_?"

Daruk felt his spine crawl as Zelda turned warily toward the bed small enough for but an infant, having not come to the same realization as he had, but in a split second, it had become apparent enough to her.

"Where were you when my _son_\- _When_-"

Rabil's teeth bit together as he fought back his tears, dropping his head toward the table in an attempt to hide his sweltering emotions, "Where were you when he vanished without a trace? My wife sickened into shock after turning away for a _single_ moment only for our infant to be stricken away from us, lost to the wild. Where were your magicians? your trackers- Your goddamned mass of a worthless army- _Anything_ to find that poor child?!"

Ahie turned away, having already covered her face with her hand, knowing herself to be the one to blame for such an event.

Her gaze hanging low, Zelda could feel the shame welling up within the pit of her stomach.

"I'll tell you where _you_ were. Out covering this land with well worn dirt, digging for _shit_," Rabil accosted with venomous spit ejecting from his lips.

Zelda remained encloistered, any thought of opening her mouth forcing a wretched nausea to swell up into her throat.

Rabil took a moment to breath a disjointed snatch of air, all but matching his horrendously disjointed heart now that he'd been given a face unto his hatred. His eyes sunken, his fingernails dug into the tabletop, his heart contorting in painful twists as he awaited Zelda's reply, ready to interrupt her voice the same way his son's life had all but interrupted, only to find her reply not forthcoming.

"Fucking _speak_!" he cried, slamming a fist into the table that sent the entire length of furniture shaking in answer.

Zelda slowly raised her head, revealing her tear-stained eyes. While the Champions at large kept their watchful eyes upon Rabil, Urbosa turned to bear witness to the young princess's reply, a grave expression worn upon her face as she did so, knowing Zelda to be severely outmatched.

Despite her tears, however, Zelda's face remained as still as the very Eldin mountains that had rattled her even more than this man's vitriol. Even more, as she displayed her voice, it carried its cadence with nothing less than regal assurance.

"I can't begin to apologize enough for your loss," she finally answered, leaving Rabil to bite his lip all while his face twirled in anguished fury, "With Hyrule's future on the line, we-"

"Our _future_?!" Rabil fired back with a strand of heartbreak in his voice, "That _boy_ was our future! You and your _gaudy_ ilk might be content with allowing the death of what we _have_ just so you can feel better about preparing for the _next_ rebellion against your _fetid_ leadership, but I'm not about to stand idly by while it kills off each and every one of us!"

Zelda wavered. Despite her best attempt at remaining placid, summoning whatever courage she might have had within her to stave off this verbal onslaught, to show a face of administrative zeal, it was quickly growing inconsequential. She knew her family history; of its sins that still required atonement. Why had she thought this to be so easy?

Before Rabil could continue his malicious tirade, a tenuous pair of knocks came rapping at the door, forcing the Dangarnonian man's attention up from the princess with a furious whip, as if knowing he'd been caught out of line. He slowly descended back into his chair, still crushing the edge of the table between his tightening hands, leaving Kobah to watch the younger man with a wary stare while Ahie cautiously made her way toward the front door.

Daruk sulkily leaned closer to Link, whispering, "What do we do..?"

His hands folded within one another, head drawn low, Link merely answered, "Nothing."

"But-"

Link's head turned to the side to catch a glimpse of Daruk's terrorized expression, "This is not our fight. It's hers."

A roiling of nerves brought a look of dismay along Daruk's already worried expression, though he remained where he was, surveying the other Champions while the room weighed heavy beneath the gravitas of the previous discussion. His body shook at the whining joints that brought open the door while Ahie stood to the side, allowing a magnificently boisterous man to step into the tiny hovel with his lantern in hand, musing happily while laying eyes upon the visitors.

"Well!" he chirpily shot, raising his hands almost in triumph, "If the goddess had not graced us enough! Ah, thank you, Ahie."

The woman of the house carefully took the man's lantern before turning away to set it aside, allowing the jovial man to work off his coat as he went on, "I was surprised in the most pleasant of ways when I caught word of your arrival!"

Stepping toward the table, he reached a hand out toward Zelda, "I'm Motom! the humble elder of this-"

Zelda had worked her head high in greeting, however, despite her weakening smile, the haphazard marks of tear stains remained painted upon her cheeks. With a darkening look, Motom turned toward the opposite end of the table.

"Rabil… I _explicitly_ told you to _not_-"

Zelda quickly shook her head, taking Motom's hand into her own to prevent him from leaving while also regaining his attention, "No, sir, I-"

She paused, "I understand my family's role in this man's misfortune."

"Even _so_," Motom boorishly muttered, shooting a glance toward Rabil, "Best to let bygones go. This town is of far greater importance than the single life of any _one_ of us."

He broke from Zelda's handshake before stomping in his hobbling way down the length of the table, "And I will not permit you to bring up any further grievances, is that understood?"

Rabil glanced at the man for only a moment before giving a begrudging nod, "Yes. sir."

Taking in an annoyed breath, Motom rolled his head along his shoulders as if to reorient himself, returning to the Champions with a wiry smile that peeked out from his thick white beard as he ejected, "Well, I hope Rabil, here, wasn't too distasteful to speak to. Now you understand why I had Kobah introduce you to our tiny little establishment, here."

He groaned with ever-increasing age wearing upon his bone while sitting down at the table, "Guuh… I would have _preferred_ to have begun this new relationship between our two townships on a much lighter foot. Especially with a few others in accompaniment!"

Motom waved Ahie over, "Please, my dear, bring over that last pot of food! I wouldn't dare let any of you leave without tasting it all, eheheh!"

Daruk shot a particularly uncertain stare across the table toward Mipha, who remained as still as she possibly could.

"Now, you all will be head over heel about our local delicacy!" Motom boasted, as though he were a salesperson, "My father was so proud of those mushrooms! All the best towns, he'd say- They all have that certain something that puts 'em on the map! Well, he had those accursed scourges from the west to contend with, but thankfully, under my care, we've all but eliminated that threat. I do believe Dangarnon is primed to become a heavily traveled hub of sorts- Nay, a destination!"

Zelda knew enough of the threat this man spoke of, but decided to plead ignorant as she answered, "What threat do you mean, if I might ask?"

"Eh, those damned Rito," Motom bit out loud as Ahie leaned over the table, leaving the final pot of food before delicately sorting out portions atop everybody's plates, "But enough about that. As I said, they're nary a nuisance now. I'd rather we speak of my town's upward trajectory rather than its past! I think our relationship would benefit all the same."

Taking a moment to think of his sudden aversion to the topic, Zelda nodded nonetheless, replying simply, "Yes. I agree."

"Wonderful!" Motom smiled heartily before digging into his plate of assorted mushroom cuisine, nodding vigorously toward the others, "Go on, please!"

Ahie just finished serving Daruk's portion as the Goron leaned toward Link once again, "This is how scary stories begin, you know…"

"or _end_," Link smirked, knowingly sending Daruk into a cold sweat.

Motom made a throaty sound as a thought came to him mid-swallow, nodding as he wiped away his lips, neglecting the bits of soup that hand drained along his beard, "Oh! Will you all be staying beyond tomorrow morning?"

"I'm afraid not," Zelda answered, gesturing toward Revali, who hadn't taken a bite of food yet, "My grandfather's destination awaits, and he isn't one to remain patient in his old age."

Motom chuckled, "I wholeheartedly understand! Please, my good sir, eat your fill as well! If I'm any testament, these will keep you as vigorous as any youngin'!"

His hood moving slightly as Revali attempted a piercing stare toward Zelda, failing to understand how to react, the Rito suddenly fluttered in place with a shocking burst of recoil as Urbosa took the back of his head, guiding a spoonful of grey mushroom paste toward his beak.

"That's what I'm here for," Urbosa noted aloud, albeit with a hint of uncertainty to her voice, afraid that Revali's reaction might blow their cover.

Despite this, Revali managed to keep himself subdued, only somewhat. He sent his knee in blistering slams against Urbosa's leg in detestable resignation, hoping to flee from the encroaching serving of disgusting-looking Hylian food.

"In fact, Kobah might bear witness himself," Motom chuckled, reaching over to pat the middle-aged man atop the shoulder.

Indeed, Kobah nodded as he politely hug his head over his plate while about to take a bite, "It really it good stuff. Might take a little getting used to, but-"

"Bah, it's nothing of the sort; especially how Ahie makes it!" Motom happily released, "Despite his venomous tongue, Rabil truly lucked out with this one. I'm certain they'll work up the readiness for another child soon enough."

Zelda lowered her gaze, uncertain as to the sheer uncouthness of the man's words. Even so, they didn't seem to bother Rabil, while Ahie remained in the corner, peering off into the distance as though attempting to remain hidden.

"We may not _all_ be resilient people," Motom assured easily while poking a fork into some steamed ingredient, "But this small town- Dangarnon has stood the test of time, against all odds, and it will continue to do so as long as-"

*_THUNK_*

Link's head shot up toward the roof, along with the rest of the Champions- even Revali couldn't help but raise a curious glance up from underneath his shawl. Urbosa's eyes immediately grew into slants as she attempted to ascertain what she had heard, but it was Zelda who first returned from the roof to glance at Motom, who, instead of surprise, showed anger behind his dismissive gaze.

The elderly man bit back his lips, causing his thick beard to flutter about as he leaned closer toward Kobah, muttering lowly, "I thought your _son_ was up to the task."

"He _is_," Kobah assured with a voice as still and certain as a stone impeding a stream.

"Then why was no alarm sounded?"

Kobah warily ran his eyes along the roof himself, thinking aloud, "I don't know…"

"Uh," Urbosa clamored suddenly, "Are we just going to ignore that something akin to a boulder just slammed into this home?"

Motom's face constricted after wiping away his lips, pushing himself to his feet, "Have no fear. Rabil, help me outside- The two of us will head out and quell your worries."

The two man began their shaky trek up to their feet while Mipha glanced warily toward the others, noting their uncertainty matching her own. Even Revali had returned to his downcast pose, resigning himself to the wary air that had suddenly arisen in tandem with that discomfort that had long permeated this visit.

Before Rabil could pull Motom up to his feet, however, the doorway into the home violently swung open as a young man nearly threw himself through the frame, huffing violently in lost breath as he keeled over, desperately grasping at his knees while standing there. Kobah gripped the arms of his chair, his brow spun forward in worry.

"Son?" he questioned gravely, "Why didn't you-"

His voiced had paused only a second before his son raised his head with a wiry smirk, still grasping for breaths as his eyes jumped toward Zelda before returning, "We got one!"

Motom and Rabil both paused their motion, turning their attention with jolting movement toward Lam.

"..what?" Kobah asked shakily.

Lam waved his father to follow as he turned to leave, "C'mon! Look!"

Kobah quickly made his way to his feet, even as Motom began to complain aloud, "Don't-! Kobah, you don't leave this-!"

Surrendered as he was to Rabil's help, Motom could only curse as Kobah began trudging along the length of the table, brushing past the Champions en route to the door, Link able to catch the utterly wretched expression upon his face, as though he were about to vomit. He quickly took to his feet as well, loosening the Master Sword before resting it beside Daruk and turning to leave, followed along by Zelda as well.

Urbosa began to rise up as well, only to catch Revali in her gaze, knowing better than to leave him, forcing her to groan under her breath.

"Goddess…" was all she could muster with exasperation.

She could only watch as the two Hylian Champions exited the room, following Kobah out into the humid air outside, sticking to their skin as their attentions were far from the oppressive night air.

'We _got one_'. Link had a terribly good idea of what the teen had meant.

They turned the corner, coming to an abrupt halt at the sight before them. Zelda's hands immediately drew up to cover her mouth while Link could only watch, gravely, the horrendous scene having been played out not minutes earlier.

Kobah's body shook vacantly, as though his spirit had left him, abhorred by his son's current position: standing over the dead body of a Rito, lying there with the unmistakably characteristic maw of an arrow having torn through their chest.

The older man's jaw shook open.

"W- What have you done..?" was all he could ask, bearing the brunt of horrified tears working their way to his strained eyes.


End file.
